Nightmare?
by Bloodredalchemist
Summary: Discontinued! Uchiha Sasuke wakes up after watching Naruto and himself die... But then again...If he's dead, why is he only 6 years old?
1. Chapter 1

**The original idea was my younger sibling's. But he doesn't write any fanfics, so, I'm the one doing it. We were watching Naruto, and Itachi was explaining what Mangekyou Sharingan could do, so my sibling said: 'What if all the events of Naruto were just an illusion on Sasuke's part, created by Itachi, all with the sole purpose of improving his little brother's shuriken skills? What if Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, the Jinchuuriki, Jiraiya, Orochimaru and the lot didn't exist?'**

**Well this is based on that. Just that I'm not going to just cause everyone to suddenly disappear, because that would be a bit hard/random/farfetched (well more far-fetched than this already is...) and it wouldn't be as funny...well I find it funny to emotionally damage and torture characters, but that's just me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, it would be off fillers by now.**

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"N-NARUTO!!!!!!!!!" he screamed as he watched his friend fall. The golden haired boy's hand still reaching out towards him, his eyes shining with happiness… _How can you be happy you moron?! Why did you have to try so hard??_ Sasuke bit down hard on his lip._ You idiot…I wasn't worth saving…_

Sasuke bit himself harder. This wasn't over yet…He could still save him…This time, it would be the other way around…He'd be the one saving that idiot's hide...just like old times…he thought, and jumped.

8.8.8

His eyes opened slowly. He found himself staring up at a blank ceiling. He was alive? Had he been rescued? What about Naruto? He sat up immediately, glancing around at his surroundings. He was in a nice room, comfortably furnished, with an alarm clock by his head. This all seemed so familiar…

He stood up slowly. Why did everything look so big?

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!!" a voice called from far away.

His dark blue eyes widened into huge circles. That voice! He hadn't heard that voice in over seven years, and he had never expected to ever hear it again.

"O-kaa-san!!!" he shouted, running towards the kitchen, tears streaming down his face. Now he knew why this place seemed so familiar. This was his house. His house where he had lived with his kaa-san, tou-san and nii-san…before Itachi killed them all…He bulled straight into his mother, who had come to check on him.

"Oh my! Sasuke, what happened?" she asked.

"Y-You died…You and Tou-san and everyone were all dead…and I…" he stammered, unable to find the words to explain. How could he tell her all that had happened? How he had grown up alone, had made wonderful friends, and betrayed them?

Wait a second…Why was she here? Had he really gone and died, when he had jumped off that cliff to save Naruto? And he was in Heaven?

There was no way he was going to Heaven, with what he'd done…So was this Hell? This was too good to be true to be hell…if it was, then his mother would spontaneously combust and turn into his older brother.

"Awww, Sasuke. It was just a bad dream. Tou-san, Itachi and I are all here," cooed his mother, ruffling his hair.

Why was he so short? He barely made it up to his mother's hip. He had been a lot taller when he had jumped off that cliff…

"Itachi died?" he said disbelievingly. The last he had seen of his older brother was him gloating over having effectively destroyed everything Sasuke had ever cared about, and in short ended his life.

"What ever are you talking about? None of us died. Are you sick?" she asked, crouching down to look him in the eye.

"W-What's going…" he started to ask.

Then it hit him.

Itachi had used his Mangekyou Sharingan on him, and was making him live his life again…That bastard…Was he going to make him enjoy the most happy days of his life, and then force him to relive his nightmares?

"I'm fine, Kaa-san…It was just a bad dream…" he said.

His mother smiled gently, and laughed softly.

"Oh Sasuke, you sound so grown up!" she said, ruffling his hair.

8.8.8

He walked to school alone, as usual. It seemed so strange, seeing things he knew were going to disappear…

However…this illusion world seemed a lot different from the world of Mangekyou Sharingan. He was making _choices_. He was making choices that seemed so real, that he was almost convinced that this was reality. He had begun to wonder if he had simply imagined everything that had happened until he was fifteen. He knew it was impossible. He had felt too much pain and loneliness for that to have been fake. Yet something…Something was telling him otherwise. _This_ was reality. Perhaps all that had been a dream, telling him of what _would_ happen.

No. There was no one in charge of his life other than him. Destiny didn't exist, we carve our own futures ourselves…

Perhaps it had been a vision of what _could_ happen…

If he saw it that way…maybe, maybe he could stop Itachi before he destroyed the Uchiha Clan…Well anyway; he was going to be late for school…

With that thought prevalent in his mind, he took off at amazing speed for the Ninja Academy.

8.8.8

He never really remembered how much people had hated him as a child…Thinking back, he had always acted like a bit of a jerk…mainly because he didn't have any friends. Being part of the prestigious Uchiha clan didn't really help either…His ego had been huge…Well anyway, it looked like the swings were free…Just as he broke out into a run, he stopped himself.

_WHY WAS HE CONCERNING HIMSELF WITH SWINGS?!?!_

How old was he? Five?! He glanced towards a window, in which he could see his reflection. No…He was six…That much better…Either this _was_ reality or this was one insane illusion…

When he stopped running for the swings to think, a blonde blur rushed past him to claim the playground toy.

"I got here first dattebayo!!" crowed the blonde boy loud enough for the world to hear. Sasuke's eyes widened. Blonde hair, loud obnoxious voice, attention seeking shouts and the 'dattebayo'…it couldn't be anyone else…He looked over towards the boy on the swing.

Sasuke never really knew what Naruto had looked like as a child. He had never paid any attention towards the loud, irrepressible ninja before he had become part of his team. It seemed strange looking at a Naruto who wasn't wearing orange, or a forehead protector…Not to mention a lot shorter too…

The six-year old Naruto looked around for a moment, as if hoping someone would notice his accomplishment. The swings were always claimed first thing in the morning, you had to be fast to actually get one, and it was a bit more than that if you wanted to be first. If Naruto was like the other kids, he'd be praised for being so fast…but this was Naruto, and no one acknowledged him, much less his existence.

Sasuke felt himself want to go over and praise Naruto, but something was stopping him. If he interfered with Naruto's life, then perhaps things wouldn't happen as they were supposed to…Naruto was supposed to grow up as lonely as he had…But Sasuke wasn't lonely right now. He still had his parents…It didn't matter. If this was an illusion it didn't matter. At least Naruto would have a friend.

He walked over to the melancholy blonde boy sitting on the swing, who was fighting to keep himself from crying. Sasuke remembered himself a long time ago in such a similar manner. After a week or two, he had grown fed up with crying about his parents…then he had sworn vengeance for his family. Naruto had done something similar himself, but at a much younger age.

"Hey…"

8.8.8

He looked up from his hands to see a dark haired boy about his age standing in front of him. He squinted at him. He looked familiar…Yeah he knew him. Uchiha Sasuke…the guy all the girls were crazy about. Uchiha Sasuke was everything Naruto wasn't…He was good at everything, and everyone liked him. Naruto would love to switch places with him. Sasuke had everything…he had parents who cared about him, and most of all, people accepted he existed. So what was a star doing talking to someone as loserly as himself?

"My name's Uchiha Sasuke…what's yours?" asked the dark eyed boy, extending his hand.

Naruto glanced all around suspiciously. Was this a trick set up by Kiba and the others? He didn't see them anywhere. Besides, Sasuke was too cool to talk to those guys…This was probably his idea of a prank. If Naruto went to shake his hand, he'd probably grab his arm and throw him…

"If this is your idea of a prank, I'm not going to fall for it! No I'm not, dattebayo!!" he exclaimed, sitting on his hands.

Sasuke felt his six-year old face twitch with annoyance. Did Naruto think that this was a joke? Did he honestly think that he, Uchiha Sasuke, played pranks on people?

"I am _not _you!!" he shouted at him, "I was just trying to be friendly!!" he yelled, before stomping off. When he was about twelve metres away, he stopped himself. Wait…the reason Naruto played so many pranks on others was because no one had acknowledged his existence…as well, the other kids used to play a lot of pranks on him as well, it was only natural that he be suspicious…

This was _so _weird. Part of him was just a six year old, and another was a fifteen year old filled with painful memories…He turned around and walked back to Naruto, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey…I'm sorry I yelled. I guess I forgot that the others pick on you a lot too…" he apologized, not looking at Naruto.

Naruto opened his eyes to stare at him.

"They pick on _you _too?" he said disbelievingly.

"No…not in the same way. The way they don't see you, it's the opposite with me. Everyone knows me, and expects so much of me…I'm not supposed to have friends, because I'm supposed to be above everyone else…I'm supposed to know everything, but I don't…It…it's really lonely…" he said sheepishly, shrugging.

Naruto stared at him wide eyed.

"You sound like a girl!" he laughed. Sasuke shot him a glare. Trust Naruto to not take anything seriously…Suddenly Naruto spoke.

"So…you want to be friends?" he asked timidly.

Sasuke nodded.

"The way I see it, if I'm friends with you, then people won't bug me so much. And I can help you with your ninja skills," he said. _And neither of us has to feel that pain again…_

"Uchiha Sasuke," said the dark haired boy, extending his hand towards the blonde boy.

"Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be the next Hokage, and the greatest ninja the world has ever seen!! DATTEBAYO!!" he said shaking Sasuke's hand.

_Not if you're always going to be this loud…moron…_

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**So...what do you think. Please review. When people don't review, I get the feeling that no one cares, and what happend with Second Chances will happen again. Do you want that to happen? If you do, well then at least SAY so.**


	2. Chapter 2

**As someone has mentioned, 'dattebayo' doesn't mean anything in particular, and is simply something that Naruto adds to the end of almost every single sentence that comes out of his mouth. 'Dattebayo' doesn't translate to anything in particular, and is mainly for emphasis (kind of like a 'HELL YEAH!' sort of thing). **

**I use 'Dattebayo', because, it is the best identifying factor of Naruto's speech pattern, like how 'Chandarou!' is Inner Sakura's word. And on top of that: I watch fansubs. I hate the fact that in the English Dubbings of Naruto, he shouts "Believe it!" at points where it makes little or no sense whatsoever (horrible, horrible translation. If Sakura can say Cha! then Naruto can say Dattebayo! sheesh...)**

** So seeing that this is a fanfic, this is what I hear, and this is what I imagine...just that all the speech is in Japanese.**

**further notes: I learn Japanese off Fansubs. I can't remember how to spell everything. Bushy brows, and Billboard Brow, were the translations given, and Sakura isn't called Billboard Brow often enough for me to pick it up. Bushy Brows on the other hand was, but I just can't spell it properly, and am too lazy to go look it up.**

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It was recess, and everyone was already talking about the classrooms newest event. Uchiha Sasuke, _the_ Uchiha Sasuke, was friends with _the_ Uzumaki Naruto! This was unheard of to their six year old minds. The cool kid, who didn't really talk, didn't just suddenly one day become best friends with the kid at the bottom of the class who always, for no reason whatsoever would shout 'Dattebayo!!" at the end of each and every sentence! They went everywhere together, not really talking, they were just there.

8.8.8

This new friendship was surprising, but teachers were seeing the good side of it. Naruto was no longer the absolute last. That was Nara Shikamaru; it seemed as if the Uchiha boy was helping the Kyuubi kid improve his skills, which was a good thing. People hoped that since his marks had gotten better, he'd stop playing so many pranks.

However, that was not meant to be. You could take the boy from the bottom of the class, but you couldn't make him change his ways…Besides, the class clown did have a…not so positive influence on the silent Uchiha prodigy. The two of them collaborated in setting up elaborate pranks for the teachers…

Iruka rubbed his head where a rather large rock had hit him on the head. Since when had Naruto gotten that good at hiding trip wires? He glared in the two boys' direction. Though their faces were completely composed, he knew it was them. It seemed that Sasuke not only improved Naruto's ninja skills, he had also taught him how to keep a straight face.

"Alright you two, enough with the acting. I know it was you," growled Iruka stopping them before they left the class room at the end of the day.

"What makes you think that it was us, Iruka-sensei?" asked Sasuke, shoving his hands into his pockets, looking up confidently at the Chuunin instructor.

"Who else could rig up that rock from the ceiling?" returned Iruka.

Naruto and Sasuke laughed.

"How would we reach the ceiling?" they laughed childishly. Iruka shook his head.

"I saw you two climbing trees…"

Who could have taught those two that? They had spent three whole evenings after school running straight up trees. Where had they learned such excellent chakra control? Naruto had been hopeless at first, but now he was as good as Sasuke at that exercise. Those two were advancing at a frightening pace…Next thing he knew, they'd be walking on water and using elemental techniques. Well, Sasuke could already do one, Iruka knew.

He had heard about the little boy who accidentally set fire to the training ground #27.

"Tree climbing has nothing to do with pranks, Iruka-sensei! This is a prank!" grinned Naruto hugely.

"Henge!!" he cried.

Iruka fell over his nose spurting blood, and all the while Sasuke laughed, as Naruto turned back into a little boy.

8.8.8

Walking home, Sasuke found himself arguing with himself yet again. His six-year old consciousness just wanted to have fun, and make Kaa-san, Nii-san and Tou-san proud. His fifteen year old mentality wanted to beat the crap out of his Nii-san and he couldn't give a damn about his Father. From what he remembered on both sides, his male parent had never shown any true sign of affection towards him.

_He's always disappointed in me, because I'm not like Nii-san…_his six-year old psyche mumbled to itself.

_You should be pretty damn glad you're not Itachi, _grumbled the older Sasuke back, _That old man must have been the reason why he murdered everyone…_

_Hey! I'm glad that you've been showing me how to do all these cool things, but stop insulting my family!!_ He heard an indignant six-year old voice shout at him.

_THEY'RE MY FAMILY TOO AND I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THEM AGAIN!!!!_ He roared at the child him. That shut himself up. This was sooooooooo weird…

Now he felt bad for yelling at himself…Great, talk about awkward. Normally when people beat themselves up over something, they didn't feel sorry for themselves. But in his case, when there were two very different, and very similar mentalities, he supposed that made sense for him to feel sorry for his child mentality.

What was he? A psychiatrist?!?

He was Uchiha, freaking Sasuke! Konoha's Number One Rookie Ninja, of Hatake Kakashi's Team 7!! Well, technically he wasn't anymore, but he had been…or at least imagined he had been…imagined that he had formerly been…

DAMN this was so complicated!!!!

He heaved a sigh, and just walked home in mental and physical silence. For now, he'd just concentrate on getting back all his skills. Sasuke had found, during some of his exercises with Naruto, that he didn't have as great strength or stamina that he used to/ imagined he used to have…He wasn't as strong or enduring as an older person, of fifteen years. Sasuke had to build up all his muscles and his chakra to levels that he could at least perform a few decent jutsus. In that aspect, Naruto was amazing. Even at six years old, his stamina and his strength were exceptional. This power obviously came from the Kyuubi, but in that aspect, he was stronger than Sasuke. At least, now he could understand and use his power. Well maybe not understand, but he could at least use his chakra now…sort of.

Sasuke had tried to teach Naruto Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Grand Blazing Fireball), but Naruto had proven hopeless. It was sort of to be expected…Naruto was after all a Wind-chakra type. Wind wasn't always Weaker than Fire though. Sasuke could easily remember the time when Naruto had hit him with his Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken…That had freaking hurt, and it wasn't as if all of Sasuke's fire techniques could have saved him…

_If Naruto wanted to hit you, you must have really deserved it…_he heard his younger-self sulk. Sasuke had to agree with himself on that part. He had deserved it, and much more…He looked up at the sky.

Shit…it was getting late. He broke into a run. He wondered what Kaa-san had made for dinner…he hoped nothing with red beans…

8.8.8

Naruto couldn't help but constantly look over his shoulder at the people behind him. Sasuke was better at ignoring them than he was. Probably because he was used to have people looking at him.

No matter what Naruto did, Sasuke was always better than he was at everything…except the thumb wars and rock paper scissors matches. Naruto always won those, until Sasuke would use his Kekkei Genkai. It wasn't fair…It wasn't fair that some people had special powers and others didn't.

_I think you've got your own special ability too Naruto…You just have to look at yourself in the mirror a couple of times…_

Sasuke had said that when he had tried to teach him something his Father had taught him. When Naruto couldn't do it, and had wondered aloud how Sasuke could do it so well; Sasuke admitted that he had practiced like a madman, trying to seek approval from his 'meanie of a parent'. Naruto felt that having parents was better than having none, but then again Sasuke's father ignored him despite his best efforts. It was almost as bad as having no one to praise you at all.

"Hands off! He's mine!!!"

"No, he's mine! Find your own man Billboard brow!!"

The two girls who sat behind them during class were bickering again.

"Ino and Sakura again?" whispered Sasuke from the corner of his mouth. Naruto gave a slight, squinty-eyed nod, leaning forward to rest his head upon the desk. Those two were always fighting over Sasuke…It wasn't fair. How come Sasuke got all the girls, dattebayo? Naruto didn't really care about the fact that his friend was like a chick magnet, but was mainly concerned with the fact that Sakura liked him. Naruto liked Sakura. She was really pretty, and she was nice…when she didn't hit him and call him Baka Naruto…

Sasuke nudged him slightly with his elbow, motioning discreetly towards the door. A special Jounin guest teacher was supposed to be coming in today. To test this new teacher's skills, Naruto and Sasuke had set up a few traps. With only a few steps, the teacher would have the Blackboard Eraser Door drop, paint can shower, curry powder bombs, and if he made it all the way to the desk, explosion tag trip wires…

This was going to be AWESOME!!!

8.8.8

Everyone knew that Naruto and Sasuke-kun had set up some traps as soon as Iruka-sensei had left. Sakura knew it wasn't a good thing to play pranks on teachers…but it would be soooo awesome _chandarou_!!!

_Calm down…Calm down…It's just yet another of Naruto's stupid pranks…but he's got some pretty damn good ones!!! _

It wasn't like they were actually going to work. This was a Jounin for crying out loud. There was no way he was going to fall for any such dumb kiddy pranks like this…

Footsteps echoed down the hallway as their special instructor made his way towards their classroom. When he was just in front of the door, he seemed to pause for a moment. Everyone held their breaths. Had he noticed? A hand appeared around the crack in the door, and pulled it back, as a head emerged from the hallway. PLOP!

Blackboard Eraser Door Drop Trap!!

The pale purple haired Jounin took a step forward…to push against a thin, nearly invisible trip wire, which sprung the next trap.

Paint Can Shower!!

Sakura wasn't really sure if the Jounin had purple hair or not, because now it was mixture of green, black, yellow and red. Everyone began laughing, except for Naruto and Sasuke, who had perfectly composed expressions plastered on their faces. Sakura understood immediately, and calmed her outward appearance.

_The best was yet to come!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!_

Suddenly, from one of the ceiling lights, a hundred tiny little brown balls, stuffed chock full of dangerously spicy curry powder came tumbling down on top of the paint covered Jounin.

More roars of laughter, as the man tried to shield himself from the onslaught of mini bombs…It was useless, as the balls exploded on impact, spreading the powder everywhere.

The teacher stumbled towards the desk, and an explosion rang through the air, as a string of explosion tags ignited…

_Maybe they had over done it…just a bit…_ thought Sakura, when the smoke cleared. There was nothing left. No evidence of a body. Just a black smudge on the ground.

"I knew it…" muttered Naruto softly, "He didn't fall for that one dattebayo…"

"He's better than we thought…though judging by the fact that it's gone…he doesn't know about the…" Sasuke answered just as softly. Sakura didn't catch his last few words, but it gave her enough information to conclude that all was not over yet.

Amidst the hilarity of the young would-be ninjas, a man with his face covered half-way by a mask, and his right eye covered by his forehead protector…with pale purple hair, walked into the room.

As quick as a flash, the laughter stopped, but no one had the opportunity to wipe the smiles off of their faces quickly enough.

"You three, pink-haired girl, Uchiha-boy, Ramen-kid, you will be exempted from this classes detention after school," he said. Sakura felt faint. Had she just been excused from a punishment, and Ino hadn't?

_SCORE!!! _

I get to be with Sasuke-kun after school!! She thought, mentally twirling around in circles with hearts for eyes…

8.8.8

Almost... If it hadn't been for the slight trail of curry powder on the floor, he would've walked in without suspecting a thing. The small pile of chalk at the door had also helped…but Paint Can Shower? Explosion Tags? That was taking it kind of far. It was a bit hard to think that all these little kids were all such good pranksters, or had all co-operated so well…Iruka must have had a hand in it…or he had just been really slow…

Maybe he shouldn't have spent an extra hour in front of the memorial…

_Obito…these kids are almost as bad as you were…_he thought silently to himself.

Slowly, he walked towards the desk.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I am your Jounin instructor for today…and my first impressions of all of you…" he paused. What to say? What did he think of them? He sat down on the chair.

"I…Ow…"

They got him…Thumb tack. That was it…this is why he hated teaching…He was _never _going to pass another kid again…

"I hate you guys."

"It wasn't us!!!" shouted all the kids at the same time. Kakashi had to cover his ears from the noise. How could they all be so loud?? Kids really were evil incarnate…and packed into tiny little boxes too…

"It wasn't us!"

"We didn't do anything!!!" "

"I am so sorry Sensei!! I couldn't stop them!"

"It wasn't my fault!!"

Kakashi sighed.

"Alright settle down, settle down. So if you guys didn't do it, then who did?"

In unison, all hands pointed towards the dark-haired Uchiha kid, and the Kyuubi boy.

"Naruto and Sasuke did it!!!!" they all roared together.

The two of them looked incredibly hurt and indignant.

"Why would we ever want to do something as terrible as lay traps for a teacher?" shouted the Uchiha kid.

"Yeah!! We were looking forward to this class dattebayo! And you guys all ruined it!!!"

Actually from what he had heard from Iruka, it probably was Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto who were those responsible…but lying was a good ninja skill…and these two seemed to have perfected that. On top of that, the thumbtack…that was ingenious.

"Very well then…Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto…would you care to demonstrate Bunshin no Jutsu?" he asked. From his information, Bunshin no Jutsu was both of their worst techniques…

Surprisingly, a grin passed between the two of them, as they stood up and moved up to the front. Though their walk seemed careless, he noticed that both were avoiding certain areas of the room…He'd best warn Iruka…but it might actually funny to see what they had rigged…

"Who wants to go first?" he asked.

"I will."

_He's confident, this Sasuke…much like Itachi in a way…just nowhere near as creepy._ Thought Kakashi.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!!" he shouted.

When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was thoroughly impressed.

Twenty perfect Bunshins…What has Itachi been teaching this kid? In an instant, all of them disappeared.

"Good. Uzumaki, you next."

The Kyuubi boy had a huge grin plastered on his face, as well as the Yondaime's signature squinty-eyed smile.

"Alright! Here I go! Watch and be amazed dattebayo!!" he shouted for the whole world to hear.

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!!"

Kakashi's eye widened in shock. What the hell?!?!? There was no way… no way that he could actually pull _that_ off! He was six-years old!!!

Loud popping noises were heard, and when the smoke cleared, there were at least five hundred young Uzumaki Naruto's in and around the room.

"HOLY CRAP!!!" Kakashi exclaimed shocked, "WHERE DO YOU GET THE CHAKRA FOR THIS?!?!?!"

This was completely insane!! Thought Kakashi incredulously, as all the Kage Bunshin's disappeared. How could a six-year old have _that_ much chakra?!?! It was impossible for a child to control the Kyuubi, even if it was sealed within him! The Yondaime's seal was impregnable. Where had he learned to do that anyway?!?!

He noticed Sasuke smiling at Naruto, almost like a proud parent. Oh you couldn't be serious…

"Alright!" smiled Kakashi, though no one could really tell, "Take these two as an example. Class is dismissed. And don't forget the detention!" he said cheerily, as he vanished from the room.

_He seriously needed to talk to the Hokage about this…_

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**Sasuke allergic to Red Beans note: In the episode in which Itachi is seen for the first time in Konoha, he and Kisame are hanging out in a tea shop. Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma are outside, and Kakashi has apparently invited Sasuke to accompany him somewhere. You see Itachi's finger twitch, and then Sasuke shows up, looks at the sign and says: "Red beans. I can't eat them. I'm allergic'. Then the camera goes back to the table where Itachi was and they're gone. The point of this all being: Sasuke is allergic to red beans.**_  
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	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is mainly to set things up a bit for what is to come...I intend to drag every single Naruto character with a depressing life story into my evil plot! BWAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! I promise that there are no references to Biology in this chapter. I can't guarantee for the future, but I promise there will be no discussion about protists, fungi, phylum, or plants in this chapter.**

* * *

The incredibly frightening pace at which Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were making was beginning to become a legend amongst the teachers, and a serious concern to some of the townspeople. The Uchiha boy was explainable. He had a genius older brother, who had become a member of ANBU at 13 years of age. The Kyuubi boy on the other hand was another matter. If he got too strong, who knew what would happen…would he destroy the village? 

The Hokage sighed as he stood up to begin the meeting with the top Jounin in the entire village.

"Hokage-sama, we aren't really having a meeting about those two little kids are we?" asked one.

"Partially. There is some major concern amongst the townsfolk about Naruto not being bottom of the class…" he said, "But we will be addressing some more important matters," he smiled, seeing the looks of horror on some of their faces.

"If everyone clearly remembers the rule that was made six years ago, and the Yondaime Hokage's wishes, there will be no reprisal against Uzumaki Naruto for succeeding. In fact, we should see it as a good thing, having such a talented young trainee at the Konoha Ninja Academy," he declared.

"Now, about this letter I have received from the Kazekage. An alliance has been agreed upon, facing the matter of Orochimaru, and his recent appearance near the Hidden Village of Sand. It seems he has made an attempt on that man's life. He failed and now has vanished, once again. In order to better locate him, we will be joining forces in order to stop the Ex-Konoha Sannin: Orochimaru."

There were nods all around, from everywhere in the room.

"The Kazekage will be arriving in a few weeks to sign the treaty. Organize defenses if you would. That is all. Dismissed."

8.8.8

This was getting annoying. Thought Sasuke, as he watched Sakura run underneath the tree he was hiding in. Ever since that time he had lent her his eraser, she wouldn't stop following him everywhere. Naruto didn't seem to like the fact that she was running after him.

_Even at six years old, he has always loved her …he always wanted to protect her, even now…_ thought the Older Sasuke.

Young Sasuke listened to that thought.

_Naruto likes Haruno Sakura?_

_Yeah. Always has, and always will…_

_Then why is she running after us?_

_She has a crush on us…and she's obsessive about it…_

_As bad as Naruto?_

_Worse. The only one who overshadows Sakura in that aspect is Yamanaka Ino._

_Ewwwwwww…she's scary. She's always smiling at me, and it's gross. Does Naruto like her too?_

_No. He called her a 'Sasuke freak'._

_Oh…That's an insult?_

_No. It's a statement of fact._

_What does that mean?_

_Never mind._

"I love you more than anything…" those words rang through Sasuke's mind. She had said that when he had left. He had thanked her, and then knocked her unconscious. He had meant it when he said 'thank you.' He had thanked her for being a friend, and a person who meant a lot to him. However, he didn't like her _that_ much, to _that_ point. Anyway, Naruto was the one who was head over heels in love with her…Well; right now it was just a crush, but Naruto was already becoming more competitive with him. That was good, now Naruto would be learning things by himself…sort of.

_I think it's safe to go now..._ his younger self thought, as he peered through the leaves.

_No its not. If Sakura just walked by, Ino is definitely not too far off._

As if on cue, the pale haired girl walked by, looking around furtively. Obviously checking to see if Sakura was still in the area.

_Neither of them have a clue as to where we are, but Sakura's making it seem as if she does, just to convince Ino that we actually like her._

_But I don't! Girls are icky!!_

_I have to disagree, but I understand your reasoning…_

_What does that mean?_

_Never mind. Let's find Naruto._

8.8.8

Naruto kept on punching the log. Sasuke had jumped into the trees as soon as class was over. Naruto understood. Since the rest of the class was in detention, Sakura was going to chase after him. Sasuke had told him that if she couldn't find him, she would immediately go to Naruto and ask where he was. Naruto was under no circumstances to tell her where he was. Sasuke had been quite adamant about that bit. Not that Naruto would really know where he'd be anyway. How Sasuke knew that she would come to him was surprising though.

'_Cuz you're my friend! Why else?'_

That little phrase explained it all to Naruto. Geez, he was such an idiot sometimes…Sasuke never told him that he was stupid, and no one did anymore, now that he was better than most of the people in the class after the past few months he and Sasuke had been friends, but Naruto saw himself as an idiot. He needed everything to be explained so carefully to him, and it took him forever to master anything. Iruka-sensei said that it was just an indication that he had a mind for detail, seeing as when Naruto mastered something, he mastered it well. Even Sasuke had said that…but man…

Sasuke was incredible. Where had he learned all of those jutsus dattebayo??? Sasuke said that his older brother had helped him a lot, but when asked for details about Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke clammed up tight. Despite what his brother had taught him, it was clear that Sasuke hated his brother almost as much as his father if not more.

"Hey! Naruto!!" shouted a voice behind him. He stopped his pounding of the log to turn and see who it was. Naruto felt his cheeks redden. It was Sakura-chan!!!

"Naruto! Where's Sasuke-kun?" she shouted at him. Did she always have to yell at him? And did she _have_ to ask about Sasuke? A slight rustle in the trees told Naruto that Sasuke had come back. He could almost hear Sasuke mentally cursing. He had come back too early. They had planned to see if they could walk on water with chakra today…If they ever got the chance to do that, it would be so much fun!

"I don't know where he is, Sakura-chaaan!" he said, folding his arms behind his head.

"Liar. You know where he is. Where is he?"

"Why are you asking me? It's not like I'm always with him…Why do you always ask where Sasuke is dattebayo?" asked Naruto.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh…you'll never understand!!" she said irritably.

"Hey that's not nice! You've never even given me a chance!" he said angrily. She always ignored him, and she always told him that he'd never understand anything, because he was so stupid…

"Where's Sasuke-kun?" she shouted again.

"I'm not telling. Even if I did know where he was, I wouldn't tell a meanie face like you!!!" he shouted back at her

"ARRRRGH…..I HATE YOU BAKA NARUTO!!!" she screeched at him, before stomping off.

_She hates me…She'll always like Sasuke more than me…_thought Naruto softly to himself.

As soon as she was gone, Sasuke dropped down from the trees.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"What makes you think I'm not?" returned Naruto.

"She wasn't being very nice, and you don't look too good…"

"I'm fine! I'm fine! Dattebayo! I'm perfectly fine!"

Sasuke just looked at him for a moment in silence, before smiling.

"Okay then! Let's go swimming!"

"I thought we were going for a walk?"

"If it doesn't work, then we're just going to get really wet."

Oh…he was right about that.

"So? What are we waiting for? Let's go!!" he shouted, running in the direction of the river.

Naruto stared after his friend for a moment.

_He's always going to be better than me…_he thought for a soft moment.

"Come on Naruto!! If you don't hurry up, _I'll_ be the one becoming the next Hokage!!!" Sasuke shouted from not too far away.

"NO YOU'RE NOT!!! I'LL BE THE NEXT HOKAGE!!! JUST YOU WAIT!!! DATTEBAYO!!!"

8.8.8

Sasuke came home late that night, and he came home sopping wet.

"Sasuke!! Where have you been?" his mother asked him as she rushed to grab a towel, seeing how wet her little boy was.

"I was playing with Naruto. We found out how to walk on water…" he grinned proudly, as she scrubbed his hair. "But I don't have the chakra to go for too long…Naruto had to pull me out a couple of times…" he said sheepishly.

"Naruto?" his mother repeated softly, stopping her scrubbing of his head. "Uzumaki Naruto...? _That_ Naruto?" she said, looking at him.

_Here it comes…_ the older Sasuke sighed exasperatedly. Not quite sure what this was going to be about, the younger Sasuke decided to brace himself for an interrogation of some sort.

"Yeah…I think his full name was something like that," he said smiling disarmingly. His mother didn't seem to fall for that smile…

"That boy is always in trouble and he's the bottom of the class. You shouldn't play with a boy like that…" his mother said.

"No he's not!" said Sasuke bristling slightly. Naruto wasn't dead last anymore. He was now around the upper half of their class, but that was just because of his academic marks.

"Naruto's a really nice guy! And he isn't stupid either! Besides, he doesn't get in trouble anymore!!" he said looking her straight in the eye, as if daring her to doubt his words.

Something seemed strange about the way Sasuke was staring at her. The look in his eyes was challenging her to try and say something bad about Naruto. Sasuke really liked Naruto, and he was defending his friend's name…It was strange... he was only six-years old.

When Itachi was that age…_Itachi didn't have many friends…just the one…_

Remembering how defensive Itachi had been of his friend, it didn't seem very surprising to see Sasuke exhibiting the same behaviour. She never really had anything against Itachi's friend…but for Sasuke to be friends with the Kyuubi boy…How would she know that her baby was safe?

She scrubbed harder at his head. She should talk to his Father about this…

8.8.8

_So is that what you meant by 'Here it comes'?_

Within his inner mind, the young Sasuke sat on the floor, watching his older self scratch his head tiredly.

_Yeah. I knew she'd disapprove of Naruto._

_But why? Naruto's a great person. He's really nice, and he's a great friend. He's always willing to listen and offers to help all the time! Why do all the adults hate him so much?_

Sasuke looked at his younger self with an almost pitying expression in his eyes.

_Because he's a Jinchuuriki. _

_A whaaaaaaaaaa?_

_Jinchuuriki. A person with a bijuu sealed inside them._

_A tailed animal? What's so great about that?_

_You've always wondered where Naruto gets all that chakra before, right?_

_Yeah…you always just said you'd tell me when I'm older…or that I'd find out in my own time…_

_Well, I'm spilling the beans now. You know the legend of the Yondaime Hokage and the Kyuubi right?_

_Yeah! The Yondaime sacrificed his life to get rid of the evil nine-tailed fox, right?_

Sasuke winced.

_Sort of…Did you ever wonder how he did that?_

_Uhhhhhhh…he sacrificed his life?_ The response was uncertain, almost hesitant, really. He never had thought of this before…

_If life worked that way, there would be a lot of people in this world who would be dead because someone sacrificed their life to get rid of them. What really happened was the Yondaime used a special technique to summon the Shinigami from the underworld. In exchange for your life, you can use the Shinigami to pull something's soul from its body and seal it into your own. However, the Yondaime was, for a reason that's beyond my knowledge, unable to seal it into himself._

_Why?  
I just told you I don't know. Anyway, instead of sealing it into himself, he sealed it into a baby boy…his own son, so I've heard…Guess who that baby boy was?_

_I dunno._

_Okay…here's a hint, he's got blonde hair, blue eyes and he shouts 'dattebayo' a lot._

_You don't mean Naruto do you?!?! _

_Who was the topic of our entire conversation?_

_The Yondaime Hokage._

_Nooooooo…it was Naruto and why the adults hate him._

_So they hate him because the Yondaime sealed a fox into him?_

_Yes._

_That's it?_

_Uh-huh._

_For real?!?!?_

_I just said yes._

_Grown ups are stupid…_

_Watch who you're talking to brat. You used to hate Naruto before too._

His younger self bristled at that.

_No I didn't!!_

_Yes you did. I was you, so I know. _

_Then that means you called yourself a brat!_

_Yes, and I admit it. I was a brat when I was little._

The younger mentality withdrew itself into a small corner of his consciousness to sulk over his defeat in the small battle of wits, and to reflect on the vast importance of information that had just been revealed to him.

_Oh, before I forget…You can't tell Naruto you know this._

_Why?_

_Because he doesn't even know himself. There was a rule made so that no one would talk about it in his presence. He doesn't even know the rule exists._

_But he's been so lonely…and he doesn't even know why! Doesn't he deserve to know why everyone hated him?_

_Yeah…he does…but we're not the one to tell him that. Even though he has us as his friend, Naruto still is a lonely little guy. He doesn't have any parents…no one to greet him at the end of the day…no one to go back to after a mission…no one to scold or praise him._

_I praise him!!_

_You're not an adult. What Naruto wants is everyone in the village to acknowledge his existence, and to recognize that he's just as good as they are. He wants to have a family. Even if they aren't biologically related._

_What does biologificalary mean?_

_You'll learn that word when you're older. To make it easier for you to understand. You're going to have to wait until Iruka-sensei practically becomes Naruto's dad._

_WHAAAAAAT?!?!?_

_Don't worry. From what I've been overhearing while you were playing, it might happen sooner than you think…Come to think of it, I heard the Kazekage and a delegation from the Hidden Village of Sand was coming…Maybe we could get Naruto and Gaara to get along early on too…Perhaps then the Kazekage will stop the assassination attempts on his son, so that he doesn't turn Gaara into a psychopathic killer…Wait, no that might not work…he killed his first person at four…I guess we're a bit late at that point…but hopefully that was mainly the Shukaku self defense thing…if that's not the case then we could at least stop him early I suppose…_

_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!_

_Just ignore me for a bit and go to sleep okay? You can hear all my thoughts, because technically I'm saying all this aloud. You should just shut me out for a while if you don't want to be traumatized when I start on how Itachi killed his best friend, Kaa-san and the entire Uchiha clan._

_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!_

_GO TO SLEEP ALRIGHT?!?!_

* * *

_**Okay, so Lee doesn't exactly have a sad life story, but there are a lot of moments of drama with him too. Gaara wins by a long shot though..**.**assassinations attempts by your father, and the one person you thought cared about you? No wonder he turned into a psychopath...**  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay so this chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but I thought I should at the least update _something_ before I left on March Break ...and I haven't managed to pull myself away from playing Naruto Ultimate Clash of Ninja 2, or the Legend of Zelda: Windwaker and Four Swords...or from watchin FFVII: Advent Children over and over again...sooooooooo...uhhhhhhhh...LOOK A DIVERSION!!!**

* * *

Naruto sat up suddenly. He looked outside his window. It was the middle of the night…Sleepily he wondered as to why he was up at this hour…He had woken up with a jolt…Something had scared him…maybe it had been a nightmare. A sudden pain in his gut made him think otherwise. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to eat all that ramen in one go…Climbing out of bed, he headed towards the bathroom when a series of stomach-wrenching pains sent him crashing to the floor.

This hurt too much to be just a simple case of indigestion!! Something must have been wrong with that weird purple plant by the road…he bet it had been an eggplant. He hated eggplants. They always made him sick…He'd rather go for a month without ramen before eating an eggplant.

Struggling to his feet despite the pain, the six-year old continued to make slow progress towards the bathroom. _Next time_, he promised himself, _next time, I'll read the labels…next time I'll listen to Iruka-sensei about best-before-dates…_he thought resolutely through the pain.

The next round of pains was so intense that it once again sent Naruto to the ground, this time screaming, with tears coursing down his face.

_I'm NOT gonna cry! I am NOT gonna cry, dattebayo!! I promised myself I wasn't going to cry anymore!!!! _

He tried to force his screams back down his throat, but his six-year old mouth refused to obey that particular order from his conscious mind. After about five solid minutes of intense screaming, Naruto thankfully, fell unconscious.

8.8.8

Iruka and Kakashi both looked down at the sedated boy's face. On Iruka, an expression of extreme worry and concern was written all over his face, and Kakashi... who knew with that mask of his; but his eyes showed concern for the little boy.

"Does anyone have an idea as to what could be causing this?" asked Iruka timidly. He didn't feel exactly comfortable addressing Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's Copy Ninja so informally, but this was concerning Naruto, and Iruka just couldn't stand on ceremony when Naruto was concerned.

Kakashi shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but I think that Naruto's excessive rate of growth might have something to do with it…"

Iruka nodded silently, returning his gaze to Naruto's face. It was true. The boy who had once been the incurable dead last idiot of the class was now fighting for seventh place with Aburame Shino. Despite Naruto's impressive practical abilities, he lacked intellectual brains, but he was improving.

"Naruto created five hundred Kage Bunshins in class…" Kakashi said suddenly.

Iruka's head whipped up in shock. Kakashi's expression was blank however, and seemed to merely be assessing Iruka's reaction.

"H-how? But that's a forbidden technique!" Iruka managed to sputter.

"It's forbidden, but everyone knows how to do it, so he could have learned it from almost anyone…"

"Where does he get the chakra to make five hundred bunshins??"

"That's what I was wondering…I have a feeling that that little stunt resulted in this… He used up all of his own chakra, and…"

"He pulled a bit on the Kyuubi's..." finished Iruka. "But I don't get it. That seal was supposed to mix the two's chakra, and protect Naruto…Why would something like…"

"He's six years old Iruka…You can't expect perfect symbiosis to happen overnight…It'll be years before that happens…"

"Should we tell him?" the Chuunin asked quietly.

"…That's for Hokage-sama to decide…" answered Kakashi just as quietly.

All the while, Naruto slept on…

8.8.8

"WHAT?!?! You were in the hospital?!?" Sasuke said shocked.

Naruto grinned weakly, scratching at the goggles that he had recently taken to wearing on his forehead.

"Yeah…I think I ate something weird…Probably an eggplant…or maybe because that ramen had expired last week…Sasuke, what does 'expired' mean anyway? Iruka-sensei keeps telling me to read the 'best-before-dates' but I don't know what those dates mean…"

"Expired means it's rotten, and you can't eat it anymore…Where did you get those goggles?" asked Sasuke, poking the green eyewear tentatively. Seeing something on the blonde boy's forehead made him look a bit older, in Sasuke's view, mainly because it reminded him of the older Naruto.

"OH! Iruka-sensei gave them to me in the hospital! He said they'd help me read the expiry dates and maybe get me a better mark in class too! He said that if I get an 'A' on the next written test, he'd take me out for ramen! I'm gonna get the best mark in the class dattebayo!!"

Sasuke had to smile. Sakura always got perfect on every test. If Naruto did get a perfect score, he'd have to share the 'best mark' title with Sakura. Anyway, so long as Naruto got over a 'C' Iruka-sensei would take him to Ichiraku Ramen, despite him not getting the hoped-for mark.

"What are you smiling about Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke grinned.

"I learned another fire-technique, wanna see?"

Naruto pulled a face.

"I stink at those…"

"It's okay. It took me a month of practice and 'second degree' burns to get this one done...my mom's forbidden me to use this one…" he added softly.

"Okay, but I want you to see _my_ new jutsu…" Naruto said grudgingly.

_He probably doesn't have one…he's just going to make it up on the spot…_thought Sasuke, as they moved away from their practice log. To do this, Sasuke really had gotten second-degree burns from practice. He hadn't realized that as a six-year old, his small muscle control might not be as good as it had been, and he'd almost burned himself to a crisp. He had been lucky that Kakashi had been nearby…

Performing a rather slow set of hand-seals, Sasuke drew a deep breath.

"_Katon: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU!!!"_

Multiple gouts of hot flame burst from Sasuke's mouth to slam into the log, setting it aflame. Naruto watched him squinting. Sasuke wasn't sure whether or not he was impressed or not. Only when the flames died down, did Naruto speak.

"You burned the log down…" Naruto said disapprovingly.

Sasuke nodded silently. Yep, he had definitely burned the log down. All that was left was a lump of charcoal…

"Fuzzy Eyebrows is going to be mad…"

"Who's Fuzzy Eyebrows?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Some older guy who comes every once in a while and beats up that log…he's weird…" he said.

_Fuzzy eyebrows punching a log? Has to be Lee…_

_Who?_

_You'll see him soon…_

"Mmmmm…" nodded Sasuke, biting his lip, "I guess we should apologize…"

"Yeah…We've been hitting it a lot…I don't think he appreciates that…"

"Where did you learn a big word like 'appreciate'?" Sasuke asked his friend.

"Iruka-sensei said it a lot…after the ummm…incident…"

"Ah…"

It made sense. Iruka had lectured them for an hour for what they had done to Kakashi. Technically they had done all that to a bunshin, and it didn't really count as the man himself, but grown ups could be stupid sometimes…

_It's the thought that counts…_the older mentality chuckled, _it works with compliments too._

"So where would fuzzy eyebrows be?"

"I dunno…should we wait for him?"

Sasuke adamantly shook his head.

"No way!!! If we stick around too long, then those stupid girls are going to find this place, and then what are we going to do for a practice area?" he said.

He had never truly realized how scary fan-girls were…From his older self's memories, things had always been like that…just that he hadn't paid any attention to it at all, and never noticed.

"Uhhhhhh….you've got a point dattebayo…" agreed Naruto. Despite his infatuation with Sakura, Naruto too had learned the terrors of being chased by those girls. He had never known how loud a girl could scream: 'Kakkoii!!!'

"Well anyway…where should we go? We've been here too long," asked Sasuke.

An awkward silence filled the air between them. Neither boy knew what to do…

_Ahem…might I put in a suggestion?_ Said the older Sasuke with a small, feigned cough. Recently his younger self had been ignoring him a lot…Maybe it had been because of his entire recollection of the multiple times Itachi had shown him the massacre of the Uchiha clan…It was a total of…four, if he remembered correctly. Well, anyway since then, Sasuke's stubborn six-year-old mentality was giving him a cold shoulder.

_What?_ asked the little kid suspiciously.

_I'd go to the village gates._

_Why?_

_Come on, I'm you! Would it kill you to trust me a bit here? It's not like I'm trying to force feed you red beans or spinach!!!!_ Snapped Sasuke irritably. _JUST GO TO THE DAMNED GATE!!! FUZZY BROWS IS PROBABLY THERE, AS IS GAARA, TEMARI, KANKURO, AND THE KAZEKAGE AS WELL AS HALF OF KONOHA'S GREATEST JOUNIN!!! NOW GO!!!_

Sasuke began to regret yelling at his younger self, now seeing as his child mentality had retreated to a corner whimpering in fear. Sighing inwardly, he decided to talk to Naruto.

"Hey, let's go to the Village Gates!" he said.

Naruto looked at him funny.

"Are you okay Sasuke?"

"Of course I am, why would I not be?"

"You sound funny dattebayo…"

How had he forgotten that? 16-year-old Sasuke was far more used to speaking in an adult like manner…as in an almost dead monotone, with a hint of disdain imbedded beneath multiple layers of feigned emotion, with underlying bits of genuine feeling somewhere in there. Hearing such a complex voice coming from a six-year-old would undoubtedly be either exceptionally creepy or just plain weird.

"I…I think I hear the girls…" whispered Sasuke loudly. Naruto nodded in response. Of course Sasuke would start sounding strange if he thought a girl was nearby. Sasuke's fan-girls were really scary. Even though Sakura was one of them, and Naruto liked Sakura, people like Ino were really, really, really, really scary dattebayo!!! They couldn't train by the river bank anymore ever since Sakura told everyone where it was. The two of them had had to run across to the other side and hide in the forest for an hour before they could go home.

"Let's go to the Gate..." said Sasuke again, "they'd never look for us there!"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah!! Uhhh…why?" he didn't see how going to the Gate would help anything.

"There's something happening there today…there's supposed to be just a bunch of old people talking. We'll be fine! They think we're too cool to be hanging out with old people!"

"Okay! Let's GO!!"

8.8.8

Heh, heh, heh…he had done a good job sneaking in here. This way, with no one officially knowing he was here, there wouldn't be any teary-eyed Chuunin's running around for his autograph…and Ebisu and Kakashi wouldn't be pressuring him to finish the next book. He needed to research!! There was no way Icha-Icha Violence would possibly be completed without his research!!!

_How long has it been since I've been here?_ he thought as he walked through the streets of Konoha. It had been six years…six years since Uzumaki Arashi, his goofy little Genin had died…Funny how time flies…That goofy little blonde boy grew up to be a big responsible insanely powerful Hokage. The strongest to have ever lived! It hadn't been fair for him to have gone that way. He had had such a life ahead of him…Come to think of it; maybe he should visit the monument, since Arashi didn't have a tomb. Sarutobi-sensei had never said what happened to the Fourth's body, and hadn't mentioned it. Not that Jiraiya had ever asked. He hadn't wanted to stick around after the funeral. It was always too depressing.

Ahhhhhhh, well anyway there were more important things to be done…right now there was some research to be done…eh heh…

* * *

**As a side note, the entire Fourth Hokage being called Uzumaki Arashi and being Naruto's dad...I'm not sure if its official yet, but its all over the internet, and...Arashi's a cool name...because...like...it means storm...well depending on how you write it, it means storm...but anyhoo...yeah...I have yet to drag in all the emo people into the story, but I guarantee Ero-sennin (Jiraiya) will get his just desserts for being such a perv...and Gaara will be appearing sometime later in this story...can't guarantee next chapter, but He will be there...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yeah so I'm back, and have a tonne of things to do, so updates will be slow...I have everything figured out, but no time to type it up...unless you prefer I failed school, got this computer confiscated and never to write again, please please please don't pressure me. glares at specific people Well anyway...the chapter after this is...uhhhhhhh...a surprise...well either that or the chapter after that is special...**

* * *

They walked down the road together, side by side as calmly as possible. They needed to constantly be on the alert. Little boys were always viewed with misgiving practically anywhere they went…especially if they happened to be named Uzumaki Naruto, and more recently: Uchiha Sasuke. However right now, no one could possibly suspect them of any wrongdoing today. They were just two little kids walking together on a nice day, talking about silly, little childish things.

"Seriously, rock beats scissors. Everyone knows that!"

"Metal is harder than rock, and scissors are sharper."

"Rocks are bigger and they can bend scissors."

"Scissors can stab people!"

"Since when did this have anything to do with killing people?"

"We're ninjas! Of course we have to think of these sorts of things dattebayo!!"

"Well, then I could bash your head in with a rock!"

"I'd stab you first!"

This was such a dumb conversation, thought Sasuke. Of course rock beat scissors; that was just the way things were. Then again, Naruto never was one to leave things the way they were, much less follow the rules…

8.8.8

"Hey…what's that old guy doing over there?" asked Naruto, pointing towards a white-haired old man crouching in front of the women's bath.

"Do you think he's lost?"

"I guess so…"

8.8.8

_Pervert…_smirked the older Sasuke shaking his head knowingly.

_What does that word mean?_ His younger self asked him.

_You'll find out when you're older._

_Iruka-sensei used that word to describe Naruto's transformation jutsu…_

_Like I said, you'll find out when you're older._

The older Sasuke's tone made it clear not to press the matter any further, so his younger self sullenly agreed not to ask anymore questions. There was no way he was going to grow up to be such a stingy meany-head like that guy…

_I heard that. _

8.8.8

"HEY!!!! OJII-SAN!!!!"

Jiraiya momentarily glanced away from his research to see what was going on. Two little kids about six-years old were looking pointedly at him, and shouting a good distance away.

"THE MEN'S SIDE IS OVER THERE!!!" shouted the blonde one, who had a pair of green goggles on his forehead.

Jiraiya turned back to his research. He wasn't _that_ old. He was only forty something years old now…Well he did have perfectly white hair, which did have something to do with people calling him an old man…

"HEEEEEEEEEYYYY!!! YOU'RE AT THE WRONG SIDE!!!" shouted both kids at him. He ignored them. Stupid brats. If they were too loud, some of those women might begin to suspect something…eh heh…

8.8.8

Naruto traded a look with Sasuke.

_Maybe he can't hear us,_ communicated Naruto in a simple head shake.

Sasuke shrugged in response.

_Well, that guy does look pretty old…_ was what his unspoken answer was. They decided to get closer.

"Heey…Ojii-san…you're on the wrong side dattebayo…" said Naruto, sticking his face really close to the old man's.

"What are you looking at anyway?" he continued loudly, trying to see what the white-haired man was gazing at so intently. Naruto spoke in the curious voice of a six-year old who just wanted to know what was going on. The old man pushed Naruto's head away, still watching, a strange expression on his face.

"Why are you watching the women's bath?" asked the six-year old boy. He turned to Sasuke who simply shrugged expressively, clearly saying:

_I don't know why anyone would want to do that…_

Naruto thought quietly for a bit.

"HEY!! Ojii-san, are you a pervert????" exclaimed Naruto loudly as a thought occurred to him. Immediately the old man spoke.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he shushed at the little boy.

8.8.8

The Older Sasuke shook his head chuckling.

_Stupid Jiraiya…_he said, _you should know of all people…Uzumaki Naruto, is the world's number one loudest, unpredictable ninja…emphasis on the loudest. You could chop him limb from limb, but you will **never** shut him up dattebayo! _

_You know this guy? HE knows Naruto? Did you just say 'dattebayo'?!?!?!_ exclaimed his younger mentality shocked.

_Yes I do know this old guy. He's the Toad Sage, one of Konoha's legendary Sannin: Jiraiya…or Ero-Sennin, as he is aptly called by Naruto if you prefer. He's the one who teaches Naruto Rasengan…_the older Sasuke winced in remembrance of when Naruto had smacked him with one of those…

_You said 'dattebayo'…_

_That was to emphasize the point that it's impossible to keep Naruto quiet._

_I don't get it._

_You don't have to. Wait till you're older and have a more sophisticated sense of humour._

_What does 'sophisticated' mean?_

_Forget it._

8.8.8

"Hey Sasuke! This guy's a pervert dattebayo!!" shouted the little blonde kid to his dark-haired friend. The women had obviously all heard that last statement and ran screaming from the door. Jiraiya froze in shock, from being denied his research…all because of two little kids…well mainly one. The dark-haired boy hadn't said a word…that little blonde brat…Jiraiya glared at the little boy, who glared right back with squinty eyes. There was something strikingly familiar about this kid…No…no way!!! It couldn't be…

The same hair colour…the same way it stuck up in odd angles…the same squinty eyed smile or glare…It was too coincidental.

"Hey, ojii-san…are you really a pervert?" asked the little boy.

"No…" Since they had asked, he might as well admit it…

"I'M A MEGA PERV!!!" laughed Jiraiya maniacally. The two kids traded confused glances.

"Oh. Okay…" said the little kids, turning away.

"Huh?" he said, confused. How could they react like that to such a declaration?

"Hey kid…what's your name?" he called to them stopping them as they walked down the road.

"Me or him?" asked the dark-haired boy.

"Both of you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." _An Uchiha huh? Should have guessed that with those eyes and hair…probably Fugako's (?) son…_

"I'm gonna be the next Hokage!!" shouted the blonde boy.

The Uchiha elbowed his friend in the ribs gently.

"Silly, that's not your name!"

"But I just thought that this old guy should know that dattebayo…" he whispered loudly to his friend. Jiraiya felt a vein pulse in his forehead. Old? HIM?!?!

"This is what Iruka-sensei means by answering the question I think…"

"Oh…"

The blonde boy smiled hugely at him.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, I'm gonna be the greatest ninja anyone's ever seen!!"

Jiraiya was momentarily surprised, but his features settled into an easy smile.

_Uzumaki Naruto eh…? I guess he takes right after you Arashi…he seems to be okay…_

"Owwwwwwwwww…." Winced Naruto as they began to walk off, clutching his stomach.

"What?"

"I think I ate something weird again…"

"Don't tell me you didn't listen to Kakashi-sensei again!! He told you to read the labels!!"

"But I don't know what carbalifitherates are!!!"

"Neither do I, but that's not the point!!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

_Okay Arashi, I retract that last statement…maybe not everything's okay...I think your son eats garbage…_

The little boy scratched at his stomach, for a moment revealing the edge of a seal.

_Or your seal isn't working as well as it should be…_

His friend smacked his hand away.

"Iruka-sensei said not to scratch!!"

"Heeeyy!! Sasuke…you're being as bad as Iruka-sensei…"

"I'm just worried about you! That's all!! You keep eating weird things, and you had to go to the hospital yesterday!!" he heard the Uchiha chastise his friend as they walked off. That kid sounded almost as if he was Naruto's mother…smirked Jiraiya. The smirk slowly slipped off of the Sannin's face.

_Things might have gotten a bit complicated after all…_

8.8.8

Gaara stared straight ahead, not daring to look at his older brother Kankuro or his sister Temari. _They hate me…because Kaa-san died when I was born…no…she died because I was born…_he thought morosely. The right side of his forehead where he had written in blood _ai_ was itchy. He raised a hand to scratch it, and everyone in a two metre radius flinched, except for the Kazekage.

_Everyone hates me…everyone's scared of me…_he thought sadly. He wanted to cry, but he always got tired after he cried…and he didn't want to fall asleep. If he fell asleep he'd have that horrible, horrible nightmare again. How long had it been since he had ever slept? He couldn't remember. For as long as he could remember he could never fall asleep willingly. His body refused to let him…People said he had the look of an insomniac…they had until they found out who he was. Why were people scared of him anyway? Gaara knew that answer. _Because I'm a monster... the reason why Yashamaru hated me…_

Gaara had always known that he was the human container of the one-tailed Shukaku of Sand, and that he was intended to become the Hidden Village of Sand's greatest weapon. He also knew that they had thought him unstable due to his feelings…He hadn't meant to hurt anyone! Why didn't people understand that?!? He was so sick and tired of being alone…

"Welcome, Kazekage. How long has it been? Six years?" said an old man wearing a funny red hat. Gaara wondered who the old guy was.

"Hokage. It's been a while…You've gotten older since we last met…" was his father's answer.

That old man was the Hokage? He didn't look like a ninja in Gaara's opinion.

"And who might these three charming children be? Yours I presume? How's your wife?" asked the old man, peering down at Gaara and his siblings.

"She's dead. Died six-years ago," was the curt response.

Gaara stared at his feet. It was his fault his mother died…she had been the one sacrificed to place the Shukaku inside him. She had hated him too, though he had never met her. Yashamaru said that she had cursed him…Did everyone hate him without ever getting to know him? No one cared about how he felt about all of this…Didn't anyone think that maybe he felt bad about having been born, and having caused someone's death?

The Hokage nodded somberly.

"A lot of people died six-years ago…we lost a lot of fine young people…The Yondaime's wife died then as well…"

"Really now…I heard that Arashi had a child," said Gaara's father.

"Yes… He'd be about the same age as your little one there," the old man said, gesturing towards Gaara.

"Is it true about the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi within his own child?"

The Hokage looked at Gaara's father, his eyes narrowed.

8.8.8

_Are you simply trying to justify what you've done to your own? I may be getting on in years, but I am not senile yet. That little boy's eyes give it away, Kazekage. You should know that…_ thought the Hokage.

"Yes he did. Simply because there was no other option," he said calmly.

"It was impossible to destroy the Kyuubi, and sealing it within himself was no option…An adult would be unwise, since the chances of symbiosis were slim. Isn't that so, Kazekage?" he said looking at the other man with a challenging look in his eyes.

The other man met the look coldly, without a hint of emotion in his eyes.

"Yes, that does make sense…"

They simply glared at each other for a long moment. This hardly seemed the setting for a peace treaty…

"So…kindly introduce me to these three adorable children…" said the Hokage waving towards the Kazekage's children.

"Certainly," he said, the coldness in his eyes still having not disappeared.

_Arashi, I wish you were here…you could always handle this man better than I could…maybe it was an age thing…_thought the Hokage regretfully.

"My eldest," he said, putting a hand on his daughter's blonde head. "Temari, say hello."

"Pleasure to meet you." Said the girl immediately.

_Her eyes are just as cold as yours...she'll grow to be far more ruthless than you ever were…_ thought the Hokage as he smiled at the young girl.

"This is Kankuro…"

The boy was playing with a doll of sorts.

_So you intend to create another Sasori of the Red Sands? It's far too obvious you're teaching him puppetry…but then again, you never were one for subtlety…_

The Kazekage remained silent for the last child. The Shukaku's Jinchuuriki.

"Shy aren't you?" he asked the little boy.

The little boy looked so tired…_I wish we could channel Naruto's energy into him…then maybe I wouldn't have to deal with his and Sasuke's pranks…_

An explosion in the distance instantly pulled everyone's attention away from the formalities of the event.

"Kakashi, Guy!" barked the Hokage. In a flash the two Jounin were gone.

* * *

**Sorry for the cliff hanger but the next bit...its impossible to cut it off anywhere, and its not done...sooooooooo...yeah, just wait...and REVIEW...well you can guess what caused the explosion...who actually...whom...gwaaaaaaaaah...i want to watch Fate Stay Night, but i'm stuck with chinese subs i can barely read...damn...SOMEONE TRANSLATE TO ENGLISH DAMMIT!!!!! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Yeah wellllll sorry about the long wait, but it's summative time... and if you're not in high school and don't know how horribly horrible this time of year is...imagine having 30 of your year's final mark dependent upon projects and exams, and these marks count percentage wise, not A+ or such, and your average means a big deal...WElllll anyway, instead of doing Spanish right now, I'm wasting my time on my dial up internet typing up this little message. So you better review this chapter!!! OR the Game will never be over!!!**

* * *

"Wooooooooaaaahhhhhhh!!!!" exclaimed Naruto in amazement at the vast numbers of Sand Ninja that were coming through the village gates.

"That's a lot of ninjas!! I bet they're all Jounin or higher!!!" said Sasuke in amazement.

_No, they're not all S. Jounins, or ANBU. If the Sand had that many shinobi of those ranks, they wouldn't need to be forming a peace treaty. Most of them are Chuunin, with about five Jounins…s_aid the Older Sasuke sighing heavily. Seriously, a small child's ability to blow everything out of proportion was insane.

"Hey! There's kids there too!!" exclaimed the Younger Sasuke aloud, ignoring his older counterpart completely.

_Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. I told you already, they're the Kazekage's kids._

"I wonder if Hokage-jii-chan will let us play with them…" wondered Naruto aloud.

"I dunno…they come from the Hidden Village of Sand…I heard they don't even have _trees_!!!" said Sasuke.

"WHAAAAAAATT?!?! T-then how do they use the ninja arts of concealment dattebayo!!???"

"They use the art of silence, brats…" whispered a voice from behind them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

8.8.8

The Konoha ninjas had come back. One of them, the one with a weird hair-cut was supporting a Sand ninja, whereas the other one was holding two boys of about six-years by the scruffs of their necks.

"Kakashi…?" said the Hokage, in a tone of voice that clearly demanded explanation.

Kakashi, the ninja who covered his face dropped both boys to scratch his head.

"Well…I don't know how to say this but…it was these two again…" he said, gesturing towards the two boys.

"Owwwwwwwww…that hurt Kakashi-sensei…" grumbled the blonde boy rubbing his back.

"You can't be serious…" said one of Gaara's Father's guards softly.

"Naruto, Sasuke, do you have anything to say for yourselves?" asked the Hokage.

The dark-haired one stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants.

"Naruto and I were minding our own business, watching the parade…" he started, when his friend interrupted him.

"When that guy suddenly pops up behind us and attacks the two of us and we got scared dattebayo!!" he said.

The Hokage looked at the boy not looking very amused at all.

The blonde one pointed towards his friend.

"Sasuke hit him first!"

"I did _NOT_!!"

"Did too!! You used your Housenka no Jutsu on him!!!"

Gaara stared in amazement, as they seemed to not notice, or really care that they were interrupting grown ups…

"That's a fire technique, so _I _didn't touch him, the fire did!!"

"SAME THING!!!"

"Well, well you used your Kage Bunshins and punched him in the face!!"

"You broke his nose."

"You turned into a girl!!!"

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!" said the blonde one turning towards one of the Konoha ninjas.

"What does perverted mean anyway? Sasuke and I met this old geezer who said he was a Mega Pervert…"

"NARUTO!!!!" shouted the Konoha ninja to whom the blonde boy was talking too.

"THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE AND APOLOGIZE TO HOKAGE-SAMA AND KAZEKAGE-SAMA!!!!" he roared.

"That goes for you too Sasuke," said the ninja called Kakashi, nudging the dark-haired boy.

"But it wasn't our fault dattebayo!!!!"

"APOLOGIZE!!!" roared Iruka.

The two boys traded looks, and nudged one another, urging the other to speak first.

"We're sorry…we didn't mean to blow up that guy…"

"Sorry dattebayo…can we go now?" asked the one called Naruto immediately.

Gaara stared at Naruto. Why did he say 'dattebayo' at the end of almost every sentence? He stared at him harder…there was something about that guy that seemed…familiar. Gaara felt some sort of unspoken kinship towards this Naruto person. Looking at him, Gaara saw a bit of himself in the blonde boy's eyes…Eyes that knew true loneliness…But this guy had a friend, the dark-haired boy…Gaara didn't have any friends at all…Everyone always ran away from him, even drunk adults did…They always got that same look in their eyes…that look of hate and fear…

8.8.8

"Alright Naruto, just don't do that ever again! Do you hear me?" said the Hokage sternly.

"Sasuke, your parents will surely hear of this!"

_Uh-oh, I'm in BIG trouble…_thought the younger Sasuke trembling.

The Older consciousness was not impressed.

_Yeah right, like he'd ever tell that old prick. The Hokage thought my dad was just a high and mighty all around jerk, the way he treated Nii-san and me…He wasn't that far off, the old man._

_B-But!!!_

_OH please, do you really think the Hokage cares that we beat up some Sand ninja who snuck up on us? It's clearly the Sand ninja's fault and we took the proper course of action._

Maybe now would not be a good time to mention that he had been dying to test out the level of his fire jutsus to his younger self…

8.8.8

"Temari, Kankuro…" said the Kazekage he said, then pausing with a disdainful glance at the red-haired boy, "…You, go play…"

It didn't sound like much of a fatherly voice to Naruto. It was more of an order. _How could you order someone to play dattebayo?!?!?!_

Sasuke nudged Naruto and jerked his head towards the red-headed boy, the one about their own age.

"Let's go!" he said softly.

Naruto grinned and immediately…ran over to grab Gaara's arm…

_SHIT!! BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD!!!!_ The Older Sasuke was quite distressed over this.

_What's so bad about it? Don't swear!!!  
OH GOD NARUTO'S GOING TO DIE!!!_

Quick as a flash Sasuke ran towards Naruto, about to slap away his friend's hand from the red-haired boy. If they weren't careful, many people would die horrible, horrible deaths.

Well thankfully, nothing came of it really. The two of them just ended up slamming straight into Gaara's wall of sand.

8.8.8

_Wha-wha-what?_ Gaara was hopelessly confused. He had just been standing there, and then suddenly a wall of sand pops up beside him. Had his father tried to kill him again?? Here? In front of all these people??

As the wall dropped back down to disappear into the air around him, Gaara saw that everyone was staring at him. He dropped his gaze towards his feet.

_I'm a monster…and now everyone here knows it…_

"Owwwwwww…" groaned the dark-haired boy, getting up off of the blonde-haired boy from earlier.

"Sasuke…that hurt!!!"

"That wasn't me!!! A humongifilious brick wall suddenly appeared in front of us!!" exclaimed the one called Sasuke

The blonde-haired boy looked from his friend to Gaara.

_Now they're going to look at me…just like everyone else…_he thought, his eyes getting wider and angrier.

Suddenly, contrary to everything Gaara expected, the blonde boy smiled hugely at him.

"COOOOOOOOOOOOLLLL TEACH ME HOW TO DO THAT DATTEBAYO!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!" exclaimed the blonde boy, grabbing a hold of Gaara's arm.

_He's grabbing my arm…he's actually touching me!! Isn't he afraid or something!?!_

Gaara noticed that the boy's friend was busy warding off the sand with furious punches and kicks. That boy was fast, to be able to do that…Who were these two people?

" I'm Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo!! And this is my super cool friend…" the dark-haired boy elbowed him.

"I don't need you to introduce me!!!" he said grouchily once the sand was gone. He had probably been enjoying that…fighting the sand.

He thrust his hand forward towards Gaara.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said softly. Gaara looked at him impassively for a moment.

"Sabaku no Gaara…" he answered just as softly as the other boy. Gaara never really talked much to people, and his voice sounded kind of raspy from disuse…Ever since Yashamaru had died…he'd... no one… No one had really talked to him at all.

"Okay, now that's done, let's go!!" shouted Naruto, running off, pulling Gaara along with him.

Gaara felt weird. He had never been pulled before like this…it was interesting really…

8.8.8

"What game do you think we should play?" asked Naruto dragging his brand new friend Gaara with him.

"Game…? You want to play? ...with me?" asked the other boy in a sort of bewildered voice.

Naruto looked at Gaara funny. Was something wrong with this guy? He talked as if he had never played with anyone in his life before…

"Games, like…shinobi-in-the-dark, ninja hunt, tag, capture the scroll…that sort of thing," said Sasuke, also looking at Gaara funny.

"I…I don't know any of those games…" answered the red-head.

Naruto and Sasuke traded looks.

_This guy has __**serious**__ issues…_

_Oh yeah…_

"Well then…how about soccer?" suggested Naruto.

Gaara reacted slightly to the word.

"You know it?" asked Sasuke.

"Where you kick a ball…into nets?"

"Yeah that one…"

_He's weird…_

_Yep…_

8.8.8

The way the wind blew across the empty field almost felt cheesy, in the Older Sasuke's opinion. Most likely, the moment they started to play, the wind would die down and then would come back up every time they paused to assess the situation…obviously in contradictory directions

_How do you think up things like that???_

_Experience._

_What?_

_Look it up in a dictionary…_

_I know what that means!!!_ Huffed his younger self irritably.

_Then stop asking dumb questions…oh look, the wind's blowing now…_ he said observing as the wind started to blow, sending ripples throughout the grass and whipping up small clouds of dust across the soccer field. Naruto and Gaara were on the same team, since the Sand boy had never played the game before, it was only fair that Naruto played on his side.

Sasuke let himself grin a bit.

_Fighting two Jinchuuriki at the same time huh? This'll be interesting…but probably not more interesting than fighting Jyuugo…I doubt Naruto's going to go ahead and release 3 tails…or Fuuton Rasengan me…_

The older Sasuke shuddered at the mere thought of Naruto's ultimate wind-element technique…the A-rank level jutsu that the Fourth Hokage himself never completed…If that man had, there was no way the Kyuubi could have killed him…

A jutsu that completely destroyed the opponent with tiny, microscopic blades of chakra at the molecular level, severing all nerve pathways, and destroying the cells themselves…Sasuke had only managed to live through it due to his intensive drug therapy under Orochimaru…and only barely at that.

_Will Naruto really become Hokage?_ His younger self asked him. The older Sasuke nodded.

_Course he will…just like Gaara's going to be Kazekage. Anyway, I'd be a horrible Hokage…I never really got along with Gaara…mainly because when we met he was a raving psychopath who killed others to assure his existence…and after that we never were on the same side…and besides…I'm not a Jinchuuriki. It definitely would show all those old geezers a thing or two with a Jinchuuriki becoming a Kage…_

"Hey Sasuke!! Let's start already dattebayo!!!!" shouted Naruto across the field. Sasuke nodded, and dropped the ball in front of himself. Since they didn't have a referee, they had decided that Sasuke should start off the game.

"Naruto…wait!" exclaimed Gaara, speaking up all of a sudden. The other two turned to look at him.

"Sasuke doesn't have a goalie…" he pointed out, his voice almost a monotone.

Naruto decided that he would have to get Gaara to laugh. It was absolutely necessary. Yes, Gaara _must _laugh…Gaara's face was too expressionless…He needed to laugh…besides, it looked like he never had a reason to laugh, much less smile…He seemed lonely, and there was no better way to cure loneliness with a laugh!! Well, Naruto knew that it wasn't a total cure, but it was a good starting point, just a bit better than having fun.

Yes, he would have to make Gaara laugh…

"Hoi, Naruto! Do Kage Bunshin!" shouted Sasuke.

"Huh? Why dattebayo?"

"So it can be my goalie!!" he said exasperatedly, as if it was so obvious.

Miffed, Naruto turned to Gaara with a look on his face that clearly said, '_What is with this guy? Thinking that it's so obvious??_' Except that Gaara was kind of looking at him as if he too thought that it was evident.

_I'm stupid…_ thought Naruto as he performed the jutsu…_Well it doesn't matter, because me and Gaara are gonna win!!!_

"No cheating Naruto, as goalie you have to try your hardest too! A Hokage always does his best!!!" called Sasuke, as the Kage Bunshin ran over to his side of the field.

"No genjutsu allowed!! And any doable ninjutsus that won't get Iruka-sensei mad at us are allowed!!!"

"Yosh!! We're gonna give it everything and win this game dattebayo!!" shouted Naruto.

* * *

**Next update will be in a long, long, long, long, long time...Or at least until after summatives...as in a month.**

**Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so it was longer than a month. I lied. Big Deal. I have very good reasons though. I said in May that it would take a month. HOwever June is exam time, and like hell I am failing school to post fanfic chapters/ write. Then after/during June, I got a Wii and Twilight Princess, for those who don't really know me personally, I am a complete Zelda game fanatic/freak. If it took some people 72 hours to beat Twilight Princess it took me 18 okay? And you can ask OrangeKittyAlchemist-Sony about what I did in WindWaker for her in 20 minutes. Now, who in their right mind, after receiving a new game would sit in front of a computer when they can swing a wiimote around and kill monsters and Ganondorf? Thirdly, I'm taking theory over the summer, and I have two summer jobs. One in which I don't get home until, at the best 7. I go to sleep at 9. SO HA!**

* * *

Naruto was so easy to manipulate…thought the Older Sasuke, as he prepared to kick the ball. Just mention the word Hokage or suggest teaching him a jutsu, and he was all ears…It was that sort of thing about him that made him such a likable person. Except when he went overboard with the 'dattebayo's and other such stupid exclamations…

_I swear…the only reason we're getting caught is because he can't keep a poker face…_

_What's poker?_

_Don't you start…_ growled the Older Sasuke, as he took a run at the ball.

Sasuke had always been at the top, and if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was to lose.

_Genjutsu huh? Naruto's stupid, he wouldn't notice one even if it was right in front of him…_

_But that's cheating!!_

_It's not cheating, it's exploiting your opponent's weakness. All ninjas know this…_

_That's not fair!!_

_It's fair until the other side notices…_

8.8.8

Naruto squinted at Sasuke as his friend approached the ball in a running kick. He was forming hand seals…A ninjutsu? Probably a fire-element jutsu, like always. All Naruto had to do was dodge the main blast and get close to where it got thin, near Sasuke's mouth…

"Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!!" shouted Sasuke, blowing and kicking the ball at the same time. Just as Naruto was beginning to dodge, a familiar female voice rang out across the field.

"Sasuke! You're the coolest!!!"

Naruto whirled around surprised to see Sakura staring at Sasuke adoringly from the sidelines.

"S-Sakura-chan??!?!"

Why was she here???

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!!"

8.8.8

Sasuke was cheating…that was _so_ definitely genjutsu…thought Gaara, his eyes narrowing at Naruto staring at a tree at the sidelines. Well it was to be expected…they were after all, shinobi…

"SHURIKEN KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!"

What do you mean Shuriken??? _Those were soccer balls!!! _

Gaara knew just by watching as the fire from the Housenka enveloped the soccer balls, that there was no way he could block all twenty-five flaming soccer balls.

"Ah…" he said softly, disappointed. If this was how the game was going to go with flaming soccer balls he and Naruto were going to lose…

_**I hate losing…IT SUCKS DAMMIT!!! I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS YO!!!**_

8.8.8

Sasuke had expected some sand to try and stop the soccer balls from getting in. Just…not this much…

A wall twenty feet high had suddenly erected itself in front and around the goal, preventing the ball and its bunshins from getting in. Though Sasuke's kick and fire had been powerful enough to slam straight through a tree, they barely made a mark on the sand.

_Okay…I so did not see that coming…_ said the Older Sasuke, looking at the wall impressed.

_Who knew the Shukaku was such a sore-loser…_

_Shuka-who???_

_Shukaku…the Ichibi…giant, scary, sky-scraper tall sand tanuki…_

_I like tanukis…they're cute_

_Not the one Gaara's tied to…_ the Older Sasuke shuddered at the memory of it.

Man that had been freaky, when Gaara had only partially transformed…Half of his face had been enveloped with sand to form part of a tanuki's head…the other half twisted into a bestial grimace with a huge murderous intent. Remembering that blood-lust, it was amazing how he could have stood up to it…much less Naruto…

The big giant tanuki had been much better to look at, but the destructive power of the damn thing had been insane!! No wonder why the Akatsuki only took people S-Jounin and higher…and sent them in groups of two. To fight on the same level of those giant animals, you had to _reach_ them first…getting close was not an option really…

Well anyway…where did all that sand come from anyway? Looking around, Sasuke found his source…

That sand box was looking pretty empty… He was pretty sure it hadn't been fifty feet deep though… That wall was quite thick…

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" exclaimed Naruto amazed.

"Gaara you are AWESOME dattebayo!!! It's like…an ABSOLUTE DEFENSE!!!" he gushed, running over towards his team mate as the wall slowly dissipated into the air.

"Teach me how to do that! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please dattebayo!!!!!!"

Gaara looked mildly surprised, which for normal people, would mean falling over from shock.

"I…I can't teach you this…" he said softly, looking at the ground.

"Oh come on!! I'll teach you Kage Bunshin!! It's a forbidden technique, but I think all the senseis know it…" continued Naruto.

"No!!" said Gaara loudly looking up, and then quickly returned his gaze towards the ground.

"The only reason…the only reason I can do this is because I'm a monster and a murderer…" he said.

Sasuke looked at Gaara sadly. He was just a kid…and ever since his birth, hated and feared by everyone…even by his own father and family…A little kid who had never before in his life been told 'I love you' or 'You're the most important person in the world to me'. Just like Naruto… Except…Naruto kind of had it easy in comparison to Gaara. The red-haired Sand shinobi had had to put up with assassination attempts almost 24/7 after he turned six-years old and had been deemed dangerous to the village.

He'd heard that the jutsu to seal the Shukaku within an unborn child required a human sacrifice…most often the mother. It also seemed that Gaara's mother had hated him too…but the poor kid had lived the first 6 years of his life believing that his mother had loved him, and that it was her love for him that made the sand protect him. Unfortunately, the same person who told him this then promptly destroyed the childish belief by telling him the truth…all in one night. Geez…it would have been a lot easier if that stupid Yashamaru person had just kept all of that to himself and just let Gaara hate his father for the order to kill him…Well anyway, it wasn't as if Gaara carried out his mother's hateful wish…the boy grew up to be Kazekage, the person who loved everyone in the village and was willing to lay their life down hundreds of times over to protect it.

_Take that…whatever your name was…Gaara's mother…!!!_ Thought Sasuke triumphantly, as he began to smile.

8.8.8

Naruto didn't get what Gaara meant by that…How could a kid his age be a monster and a murderer??? He didn't get it dattebayo!!!! He should probably get Sasuke to explain it to him…Yet…somehow, somehow Naruto knew what Gaara meant by monster. Gaara had the look of someone who had never known what it was to have a friend, much less been cared about by anyone. Just seeing the way his father had treated him, Naruto wasn't really surprised, but Naruto felt a connection to the Sand ninja.

"Well…If you're a monster, then I'm a monster too!!!" declared Naruto loudly.

"Eh??"

"EHHHHHHHHH?!??!?!?!!" exclaimed Sasuke.

8.8.8

_He's not supposed to know that!!!!! _said the Young Sasuke horrified.

_Did Iruka-sensei tell him already? Did something happen while I wasn't looking?!?!?_ Sasuke's younger consciousness was beginning to panic.

_Relax…Deep down inside, Naruto has always known about the Kyuubi…well maybe not his conscious mind, who knows what goes on in there… but he's always known he was different…All his life, he's been looked at with disgust and disdain, he's never really known why, but somehow he does know…Usually whenever he gets angry and Kyuubi chakra starts leaking out…typically characterized with whoever his opponent is getting the __**crap**__ beaten out of them…_

_Don't swear!!! And what does conscious and disdain mean???_

_Crap isn't a swear word. It's just another word for feces._

_What's feces?!?!?_

_Don't ask._

_But…_

_I said: DON'T ASK._

"Look Gaara, we're just kids! How can we be monsters dattebayo?!??!" exclaimed Naruto angrily.

_Well actually…I've known a couple of monstrous little kids myself…_remarked the Older Sasuke, looking pointedly at his younger self.

_HEY!! That's not nice!!_

_Don't worry, you're not the worst little brat I've ever met…_assured the Older Sasuke. The younger Sasuke began to smile proudly at first, before he realized that it was still, in a way, an insult.

_Look there's nothing wrong with being a brat, just make sure you shape up once you're older._

Nope, that wasn't going to do it…anyway, they had a soccer game to win…as soon as this conversation was done…boy these always took forever…

8.8.8

"Even if you say you were born a monster, does it really matter dattebayo???" asked Naruto angrily.

"It doesn't matter what you are, it's what you do that matters Gaara!! Everyone used to hate me before, but did I let it bother me?? NO!" proclaimed Naruto

_Yes you did…_ thought Sasuke irritably. Naruto was just puffing himself up since Gaara had little to no self-esteem…But it would do the kid some good to see how a Jinchuuriki could turn out to be, though he didn't know that Naruto was…and neither did Naruto for that matter…

8.8.8

Hyuuga Neji watched as his failure of a classmate walked as 'sneakily' as he could towards the Academy Grounds. Not again…would that stupid 'dropout' be trying to catch him off guard _again_?!?!

"Come out of there…" he said finally, fed up of being followed. "Knowing you, you'll just hurt yourself…" he told his classmate irritably.

"I WOULD NOT!!!" exclaimed the bob-haired boy, bursting out of the bushes angrily. In a short instant, the black-haired boy realized that he had just gave in to his enemy's taunts and had revealed his position. He was about to jump back into the bushes, as if it would somehow better everything. Well, just as he was about to jump back into the bushes, a flaming projectile came flying from the direction of the Academy field, to crash into the brush, setting the plants aflame.

"WAAAAAAH!!!" exclaimed Rock Lee, as he lost balance and fell backwards. Neji stared at the flames for a long moment, and then looked towards the direction of the schoolyard. What on _earth _was going on over there??

8.8.8

"That _so_ counted!!" roared Sasuke across the field.

"It _did _not!!!!" Naruto yelled right back.

Of course it counted. It had gotten through Gaara's ultimate defense!! Sure he had used a kage bunshin to tunnel a hole up into the net, a trick, learned from Naruto's fight with Hyuuga Neji during the Chunin Exams. Sure Sasuke hadn't actually _seen_ the fight, but after that incident, Naruto just wouldn't drop it…

Sasuke had also bettered the move by using Goukakyuu to propel the ball forward. So the ball had gone rocketing up through the ground to blast off to who knows where, the ball went into the net, and _that_'s what mattered.

"That was _cheating_!!" exclaimed Naruto.

Gaara just stood there watching impassively. He was probably confused with all this arguing. He thought there weren't any rules to scoring in this game…Well, it was better that way. What he didn't know, wouldn't get Sasuke in trouble…he hoped. Gaara was always one to catch on quick to things…

"Fine then!" he shouted towards Naruto, "We'll have a penalty kick!!" he roared down the field.

_THAT_ _should make him feel better…_said the Older Sasuke smugly.

_But what if he scores?? _

_Does it really matter? This is just a stupid game of soccer, if he scores, he scores, end of story. _

_NO IT'S NOT!!!! _Squealed the younger Sasuke, stamping his foot. The Older Sasuke stared in a kind of shock. He was preeettty sure he had never made noises like that before…

_WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS!!!! _

_Uhh…no it doesn't. Except in life or death situations, and even then, it doesn't have to matter. _

_WHATEVER!! I'M gonna win this game!! _Declared the younger Sasuke.

_Yeah, without my help, right? _

_YEAH!_ Said the child resolutely.

The older Sasuke had to keep a smirk off of his face, when about ten seconds later his younger self came back looking slightly miffed.

_What do I do here…? _

8.8.8

Neji stared in amazement as the soccer game unfolded…it seemed to be played almost entirely by the same person…There had to be at least 10 of the same blonde kid, running around, tackling one another. There were two other people, who weren't blonde. One was a red-head wearing weird sandy beige clothing, the other was a dark-haired boy wearing a black shirt and white shorts. Neji recognized him as Uchiha Sasuke, the supposed prodigy who had adamantly refused to skip grades in the Academy. That meant, that the blonde boy was Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha' number one loser…next to Bushy Brows behind him…

The score was probably still zero-zero, judging by the red-head's goalie technique. Huge walls of sand erupted from thin air to completely block the front of the net. Honestly… that was an impenetrable defense…

"Amazing…" said Bushy Brows next to him.

Neji glanced sidelong at him before returning his gaze towards the soccer game. Truly it was. There was no other word to describe at least 3 tonnes of sand moving as quick as the wind…

What was that kid, to be able to do that? He couldn't possibly be human…or if he was, then he was just a freak…Then again, in a ninja village, everyone could be seen as a freak, including himself. He had a Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, that Uchiha kid had the Sharingan, and whoever that red-head was obviously had some sort of special ability to be able to control sand…making them all freaks. That meant that the only _normal _people, were the losers…like Bushy Brows, and that blonde kid. If those people were normal, then something was horribly, horribly wrong with the world…

8.8.8

"Hey!!" shouted Naruto at the two kids standing near the edge of the forest. Both of them turned towards him surprised. Naruto felt slightly indignant. It wasn't like he was invisible or anything, so why did they look so surprised to hear him shout?

"It's not that they didn't know _you _were there," said Sasuke coming over, "More like they're surprised that you knew they were there."

Naruto squinted and nodded, as if he had known that all along. Sasuke was a crazy mind-reader…How did he know what he was thinking?

"That's Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee…" said Sasuke, indicating each with a small head-jerk. "They're both a year older than we are…I hear that Neji is supposed to be a genius of some sort…"

Naruto nodded again, merely accepting this new knowledge. He didn't know how Sasuke knew all this, but Naruto learned not to bother asking.

"Hyuuga…huh?" said Gaara softly, as if assessing the name. "they're supposed to be the strongest in Konoha…"

Naruto could have sworn a flash of something went through Sasuke's eyes at that…almost as if they had turned red, just for a split second.

"Hmph…" said Sasuke with contempt, but had no further comment on the matter.

"We'll see about that…" he muttered under his breath, before calling out to the older kids.

"HEY!! Do you want to play too?" he asked.

The one called Lee, with his abnormally bushy eyebrows nodded, and began to run over…not before tripping over his own to feet on the way…

"I don't want him on my team…" whispered Naruto towards Sasuke.

"Fine. Be that way…" growled Sasuke back just as softly.

8.8.8

By the time Lee made it all the way over, he had completely ruined his brand new set of pants, with a huge grass stain, and he had all sorts of things stuck in his hair…Yep, his mom was going to kill him…The blonde kid was looking at him as if he was an alien, the red-head didn't seem to notice him, and the dark-haired kid looked as if he was trying not to laugh…

His greatest rival, Hyuuga Neji was already there, and looking at him with the same white-eyed expression of disgust.

"Okay then," said the dark-haired kid, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, that's Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Gaara."

"Don't you have a last name?" asked Lee, looking towards the indicated red-head.

"…Sabaku no Gaara…" answered the boy after a silence. When he said that…it sounded positively eerie.

"T-That's not really a name…"

"…My father says that only weaklings who rely on family history have last names…"

At that both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha turned to glare at him.

The red-head boy shrank slightly beneath those glares.

"That's what my father said…that's why none of us in the desert have last names…" he said, as if it was an explanation.

"Hey! Don't pick on Gaara!! He just doesn't know much about Konoha!!" said Naruto angrily at the other two boys.

"He's only been here for just a little bit, _and _he comes from another country! On top of all that, Gaara's _never seen a tree!!!!_"

8.8.8

Sasuke had to suppress a chuckle at that statement. Gaara had probably seen plenty of trees…cacti more likely, but still, just coming to Konoha the boy had most likely seen more than enough trees. Glancing towards Gaara he expected to detect at least some sort of indignation from the other boy, but instead he got a completely blank expression. Even at six years old, he still wore that same expression of 'I'm incapable of using my facial muscles, so please, don't ask me to smile.'

If Sasuke didn't have his entire database of memories of the sand ninja, he would think that Gaara was a shy, timid, possibly feeble little boy…but then memories of the boy half-turning into a gigantic tanuki with a manic expression on his face and saliva dripping from his fangs completely eliminated that impression.

_STOP THINKING OF THOSE THINGS!! YOU'LL GIVE ME NIGHTMARES!!!!!_ Protested the Younger Sasuke indignantly.

_You're a ninja, ninja's don't have nightmares. Psychological pain is nothing. _

Sasuke grinned, and just for fun, decided to reminisce over what Itachi had done. After time, sometimes the memories lost their pain.

_AAAAAAAAGGGH!!! STOP IT!!!!! _

The older Sasuke sniggered. Who needed Mangekyou Sharingan when memories of it worked just as well?

_YOU'RE A MEANIE HEAD!!! _

_Thank you. I try hard to be a jerk, all just to outdo Neji. _

_So this Neji guy is also a meanie head? _

_Yes he is…all the Hyuuga's except for Hinata are a bunch of stuck up, self-centred, pompous…wind bags! And don't forget that **some** of them, very few of them are powerful… _

Sasuke knew he was kind of biased towards the Hyuuga's mainly due to some of his memories. The Uchiha's were the strongest in Konoha…until Itachi killed them all…And everyone claimed that the Uchiha's were just a spin-off of the Hyuuga's since Sharingan was _supposedly_ similar to the Byakugan…The Uchiha's were allegedly descendants of some random ninja of no significance, who was apparently a failure in everything, including the Byakugan…Well, that's how the Hyuuga's put it.

Sure, the Byakugan could see tenketsu, and jyuuken was a pretty neat way of fighting, but being able to see through and copy a person's moves was hardly related to that, and was much more useful…

Though he would love nothing more than to challenge Neji to a death match, Sharingan versus Byakugan, instead he smiled politely and spoke.

"Okay let's make teams…Lee can be on my team, with the Kage Bunshin Narutos, and Neji can go with Naruto and Gaara…"

"Why are you two team captains? We're _older_ than you are!" said Neji. Sasuke had to suppress a snigger at the pomposity of Neji's statement.

"We're in charge, because we started the game dattebayo! And because _I _say so! So HA!!!" shouted Naruto.

Sasuke glanced sidelong at his friend. Geez…there was no need to shout! And anyway, it was Sasuke who had made that decision…

"It doesn't matter…" said Gaara suddenly, surprising everyone, "Can we all just get along and play now?" he asked.

"Sure…"

* * *

**Yep. This is what you get after two months of waiting...a semi-cliffhanger. Well, now that we got high-speed internet for three months, maybe you'll get mor updates...unless i'm off gaming/working/downloading/reading...well later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So its a little shorter than usual...mainly because I felt like getting to the moreo fun stuff to write...aka, I ran out of soccer ideas. You can't blame me. In order to keep ALL the kids in character somethings were just not possible...so...this is the end of the soccer game...but no where near the end of this story.**

* * *

"GAARA!!! WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUU???" shouted Kankuro, walking around his puppet draped over his shoulder. Damn. Why did he have to be the one stuck babysitting Gaara??? Temari was the oldest!!! Anyway, wasn't it during _her_ watch that he went poof? Well, technically their younger sibling had gotten dragged away by a bunch of Konoha brats. At first, it seemed like Tou-san didn't really mind, but as soon as all the Konoha shinobi were gone, the two children had been ordered to get their brother back before he killed someone. It was imperative that this treaty went through, for the sake of the Hidden Village of Sand. He always pulled that one on them every time something happened with Gaara, whether it be at home at the dinner table, outside in the playground, or even during training. Kankuro shuddered at the thought of Gaara fully transforming before…and almost lost his breakfast. He had to find his brother fast, or both he and Temari were dead…

8.8.8

"Pass it here dattebayo!! Here Lee! Here!!!" shouted one of the multiple Naruto Kage Bunshins. Lee attempted to kick the ball towards the shouting blonde boys, but failed miserably and ended up slipping on the ball, and slamming his head hard on top of it. From the corner of his eye he saw Neji bearing down on him, all set to kick the ball out from under his head.

"H-HEY!!" Lee began to protest trying his fastest to get back up, but fell over yet again. Then in the nick of time, Sasuke came flying out of nowhere, propelled by at least two of Naruto's clones, to get Lee out of the way, and somehow, to get the ball. Lee noticed that the other six-year old's eyes had turned a vivid blood red, and a small dark dot was spinning rapidly around his pupil.

"Uh—WAAAAHHH!!!" screamed Lee in shock and horror. This was creepy!!! WHY DID HIS EYES TURN RED?? WHAT WAS HE??? IT WAS A MONSTER!

8.8.8

The game stopped when Lee started screaming. He was staring at Sasuke as if he was some sort of alien creature of some sort…

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew that sometimes Sasuke could be kind of intimidating, especially whenever there was a girl nearby and he really wanted to get away, but all he had done was make sure Lee didn't get hurt…But how had he known exactly how to dodge Neji? That other boy was really fast…

Coming over, Naruto realized what had scared Lee. Sasuke's eyes had turned red with his Sharingan. The first time Sasuke had shown him, Naruto had also screamed until Sasuke started laughing, explaining kekkei genkais. Sasuke was of the Uchiha clan, and all of them had Sharingan, some inherited stronger than others, but all of them had it. Sasuke's family happened to be pretty strong with Sharingan. His father was the chief of police, his mom had been a famous kunoichi before she got married and had kids…Sasuke had even grudgingly mentioned his older brother Itachi, who had awakened his Sharingan at eight and was an ANBU commander at thirteen. Naruto impressed, had asked then why Sasuke hadn't shown his parents that he could use Sharingan now. He was two years younger than when Itachi had gotten his…

Sasuke had adamantly refused and had sworn his best friend to secrecy. He didn't want to be compared to his big brother.

It was only after much explanation and reassurances from both Naruto, Sasuke, and surprisingly, Gaara, that Lee agreed to continue playing. They had to explain Kekkei Genkais, that Sasuke using Housenka no Jutsu during the game was perfectly normal, that Neji hadn't _really _meant to scare him, charging for the ball like that, and Naruto having enough chakra to maintain all these Kage Bunshins for the past hour really _was_ perfectly normal.

Neji didn't really see the point in having to encourage the stupid kid. The other boy was a wimp. Wimps didn't deserve having anything explained to them. The only people who deserved recognition were strong and smart people, like him…and maybe that Uchiha kid…and a lot of adults…including his uncle…It wasn't fair. Why his father was strong, stronger than the head of the family, if it hadn't been for that stupid mark…

He hated the head family, them and all the weaklings in it…he had liked his cousin Hinata well enough…until they had carved that seal into his forehead…

"Hey Neji, aren't you gonna play?"

He nodded distractedly.

"Psst! Hey Lee…Neji's not paying attention, let's take advantage of this and score!" whispered one of the multiple Naruto Kage Bunshins loudly.

As if…even with his eyes closed, Neji could beat them soundly…

"YOSH!! Let's GO!!!" roared Lee, and suddenly with a terrifying speed, began tearing down the field towards the stationary ball.

Neji was shocked by the mere raw speed that the thick-eye browed boy had, and for a moment had let himself acknowledge some spark of power in Rock Lee…until the boy tripped over his own feet and went in a headlong slide towards the ball. He didn't even reach it either, instead he stopped two inches in front of the ball.

"What a klutz…" smirked Neji running towards the ball.

8.8.8

Okay, so that hadn't gone exactly as planned…and true, Lee did lack…a certain finesse…To be blunt, Lee was showing no talent at anything whatsoever.

_And to think he beat me…_sighed the Older Sasuke watching as Lee, in his process of getting up, managed to trip over nothing yet again, and smashed into one of Naruto's clones. He must have rammed it pretty hard, because the bunshin vanished in a puff of smoke.

_THIS guy beat YOU?_

_Oh trust me, he gets a lot better…only after a lot of hard work._

_Are you just saying this to make me train more?_

_No, I'm serious. This guy worked so hard he could run faster than a horse…with…lemme see…200 pounds strapped to his legs. _Feeling his younger self's incredulity he showed him the memory of being _almost_ Hidden Lotused. Sasuke decided that, to see the rest of that memory would be traumatizing…Gai and that turtle…that had been horrible…

_Oh yeah,_ noted the older consciousness,_ Lee also beat Gaara…in fact, he was the first person to ever hurt him._

_WHOA!! He got GOOD!!!_

_My point exactly. And by the way, isn't that Naruto Bunshin on your team?_

8.8.8

Kankuro had been running around the Hidden Village of Konoha for at least two hours…He had been going in circles…How was he supposed to find Gaara in this stupid place? He wasn't familiar with the terrain, and he was hungry! The one thing that kept him going was the thought of his father's wrath upon discovering that his youngest child had accidentally murdered some stupid little Konoha brat or some such... Best case scenario would be Gaara killing at least a Genin who was picking on him or something, so they could write it off as self-defence…but that would still mean death for him and Temari. His stomach gurgled loudly. He was _hungry_…But he couldn't go back to the main building without Gaara, or an empty stomach would be the least of his problems.

"GAARA!!! WHERE ARE YOUUUU???????????!!!!"

8.8.8

"HEY! NO fair!! NO tenketsu strikes!!!" exclaimed Sasuke angrily rubbing his arm where Neji had poked him really hard. Naruto could see small bruise where Neji had done a two fingered jab on him.

"Tenketsu strike?" echoed Naruto, coming over. The game had come to a momentary halt at Sasuke's shout of foul play.

"He messed up my chakra circulatory system! I can't flow chakra through my arm…" he explained, shooting murderous glares at the Hyuuga boy.

"How?"

"It's the Hyuuga kekkei genkai. Byakugan, he can see the chakra circulatory system…"growled Sasuke. "Hyuuga's fight with Jyuuken, a type of taijutsu that only attacks the internal organs…Tenketsu strikes require extreme precision and good chakra control… you can like control the other person's chakra, like make it flow or stop it…and you can't just learn how to do them," he added with a look toward Naruto.

It wasn't fair!! How come all the cool stuff was either forbidden or exclusive only to a bloodline????

"You know a lot…" was all Neji said.

"You're pretty good if you can do tenketsu strike…" said Sasuke, glaring at him, "But that was _cheating_!"

"CHEATING? I wasn't cheating, you were using _your_ Kekkei Genkai to dodge my shurikens!!" retorted Neji.

"YOU WERE USING SHURIKENS!!! "

"YOU SPAT FIREBALLS AT ME!!"

"NINJUTSU WAS ALLOWED! WEAPONS WEREN'T!!"

"SAYS WHO???"

"Says me…" interrupted Gaara, interposing himself between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga boys.

Naruto felt a chill pass through him. The way Gaara had said that…it was creepy. He sounded…Naruto's six-year old mind couldn't put a word to it. If he had the vocabulary for it, he would have described it as 'blood thirsty'.

"I just want to play soccer, _nicely_."

The emphasis on the word 'nicely' made Naruto think that Gaara had the wrong definition of the word…

8.8.8

Sasuke just looked at Gaara for a moment, before speaking again.

"Fine, but he still cheated."

"No, _you_ did!!" retorted Neji.

_OH? You wanna fight about this Hyuuga boy??_ Growled the Older Sasuke mentality. Geez. The seven-year old Neji was just as stubborn and pig-headed as the 13 year-old one…stupid Hyuugas…He had the perfect comeback to that.

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

"NO! _YOU_ DID!!"

8.8.8

Gaara was getting frustrated…for the first time since that incident with the other kids back home. He just wanted to play sokkur with his new friends, but they were all arguing…

He was mad now…

"WHAT PART OF NICELY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled angrily, sand erupting from the air, as all the small tiny particles floating in the air congregated to create multiple streams of sand that was harder than steel. This sudden new even at least caused the two boys to stop arguing, if only for a moment…All of them were just staring awestruck by Gaara's suddenly outburst…For a while it seemed like they would be able to get on with the game…until Sasuke shouted something that let all hell loose.

"NEJI'S GOT COOTIES!!!!!"

8.8.8

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Lee screamed in terror.

"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Sasuke was expecting some sort of reaction…but not one this serious…Gaara's sand had formed a protective shell around the red-haired boy, much against his own will, from the muffled shouts coming from inside the sand…Lee had fallen over yet again and was still screaming as if he was dying or something, Naruto's bunshins had all disappeared and the real one was staring around dazed and confused.

_The Shukaku is afraid of cooties???_ Was the first thought that came through the Older Sasuke's mind. A giant, sand tanuki, was afraid of tiny, almost microscopic head-lice????

WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH THE WORLD?????!!!

"NARUTO!! SASUKE!!! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE???!!!" roared an all too familiar voice…

_OH man…we're in trouble…_

* * *

**Okay, So that's 8 chapters now, huh...Well Chapter 9 is coming up right after this...Just in case you want to know what happened.**_  
_


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay...so there's a little tiny time skip of...say about thirty minutes...then THIS happens...**

* * *

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" 

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

They all looked around, asking each other with their expressions about what to do…

"Ummm…they're crying…"

"Whadda we do??"

"Morons, what else do we do? We hit the sorry little bastards!"

"Girls shouldn't talk like that…"

"Shut the F---- UP, Fatty!"

"I dunno…they're kids…I've never hit a kid before…"

Sasuke and Gaara were the only two dry-eyed kids in front of the four, most unlikely people that could be found in the Forest of Death. This _had_ to be freakish coincidence…Here he was, six-years old, and face to face with pre-teen versions of the Sound Four…Looking at them through the eyes of a child, he began to wonder why on earth he had gone along with a bunch of freaks like them? Sakon had Ukon sticking out of his back, but both heads were looking at the two crying children that were Naruto and Lee. Kidoumaru had six arms, who had SIX arms? That was just nasty! But sure, you could do the hand seals for three different techniques at the same time, but who had the chakra for _that_? Jirobo was fat, and Tayuya was a foul-mouthed teenaged girl…

Okay, so it had been a really bad idea to sneak out of detention, and an even worse one to run into the Forest of Death through an open gate, but that wasn't his fault. Most of the blame went to Naruto. It had been his fault that they had gotten into detention in the first place, skipping out on a detention that he had conveniently forgotten…and it had been him who had grabbed Gaara by the hand and run into the Forest of Death, with Lee tagging along behind them. Sasuke had to go with them, just in case they got themselves killed…and now here they were…in a _really_, _really_, bad situation. Sasuke was pretty sure he could take these guys on, but with the body of a six-year old…there was only so much his small muscles could take…

_I might be able to fire off…maybe one chidori…two at the max…_

_You're not seriously thinking of fighting these big kids are you?_

_Is there another option?_

…_I wanna go home!! WAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!_

_God… Not you too…_

_I want mommy and daddy and Itachi-nii-san!!! WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!_

_Shut up…_

_WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!_

_I SAID SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME AND GAARA HANDLE THIS!!!!_

Gaara stared at the guy with another one hanging out of him…it was gross and scary, and Gaara thought that maybe he should cry like Naruto and Lee…but it was also strangely fascinating.

"What are you staring at kid?"

Gaara pointed at the head sticking out from the guy's back.

"Is that a toomer??"

Sasuke glanced towards him.

"What's a 'toooomer'?"

Gaara didn't answer and instead looked at the weird big boy with six arms…

"Are you a bug??"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH I DON'T LIKE BUGS!!!!!!!!" wailed Lee, wiping his runny nose with a sleeve.

Gaara pointed towards Jirobo, who with his orange hair, appeared to be the funniest thing Gaara had ever seen. He probably thought they were looking at a bunch of circus freaks...

"Naruto it's a fat clown!!" he said with what Sasuke thought could possibly be interpreted as excitement.

Sasuke turned towards Tayuya.

"You said baaaaad words…Itachi-nii-san said to never say those type of words…bad kids who say bad words get spanked!!"

"You know what…these little brats are seriously pissing me off…"

"Yeah, I know…but they're kids…"

"He called me a tumour…"

"Exactly! You're an f---ing cancer to this group!"

"Hey! Don't make fun of Ukon!!!"

"He called me a bug…"

"We can't hit them…they're crying!"

"That crying is sending every shinobi team in a three mile radius signal flares. Let's go!"

"But we can't just _leave_ them!"

Sasuke tapped Naruto on the shoulder.

"You can stop now…" he whispered towards his friend.

Naruto stopped his crying immediately. How did Sasuke know it was an act? Crying usually got him out of everything…adults were so gullible…

"See if you can get Lee to stop. I'm gonna count to three and then we'll hit him with everything we've got!"

Naruto nodded. Turning his attentions towards Lee.

"I don't wanna die…sniff…I don't like bugs…" sobbed Lee, wiping his ever so runny nose.

"Stop crying!! We're gonna beat these guys dattebayo!!" he whispered reassuringly towards Lee.

"One…Two…"

"HOW? They're big kids!!!"

Naruto grinned.

"Because, I'm gonna be the next Hokage dattebayo!!"

"THREE!!!"

8.8.8

Neji burst through the brush to find Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara and Lee engaged in battle against four big kids…

"_HOUSENKA NO JUTSU_!!!!" he heard Sasuke shout as multiple fire balls erupted from the small boy's mouth.

"Did you find them??" asked the Sand girl, running up to him. He had met her on his way home, looking for her little brother, Gaara. Neji had decided that he might as well go along with her, since he had nothing better to do…and no one really cared if he came home or not either…

Neji ignored the girl, and instead ran towards Lee. That boy was doing badly…He had to help them. He didn't know why he wanted to help Lee, just that…Rock Lee tried too hard. He tried too hard against fate, and didn't seem to see how hopeless things were for him. Yet despite that, he tried...he tried so hard that it almost made Neji feel like both Lee and that Naruto could over come fate…

Well, that wasn't exactly what Neji was thinking, his seven-year old brain didn't think that deeply, and he wasn't even aware of his own beliefs that fate was something that couldn't be fought. What he thought he was thinking was:

_Oh no! I have to help!_

Of course, this was with all the irrationality of a child. How could a seven-year old who wasn't even Genin possibly beat a bunch of Sound Ninja at the second stage of the Chuunin exam? His reasoning: _I'm Hyuuga Neji! I can win!!_

8.8.8

When she was blatantly ignored by the white-eyed boy, she realized that they must have found them. Temari took one look and swore. Very loudly. Loud enough for Gaara to glance in her direction…When he had spotted her, he actually turned around and waved at her. Temari couldn't believe her eyes. He had turned around leaving his back completely exposed to the enemy, and had _waved_ at her! She was more shocked by the fact that he had waved at her, rather than his blatant disregard for his opponent…This was _Gaara_! Gaara didn't wave at people with …a smile. NO WAY.

Well, Gaara was fine, the sand protected him as usual…but who was this freak attacking him anyway?

Well, anyway, she had been ordered to bring Gaara back, alive…though how he had gotten here was beyond her…

"_TAJUU!!! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU_!!!!" echoed a young boy's voice throughout the forest, and hundreds and hundreds of the same blue-eyed blonde boy materialized instantly.

"WATCH IT!!!" shouted a dark-haired boy, dressed in black and white, and suddenly spitting out fireballs at two of the apparent attackers.

Temari whipped out her fan. She had to bring back Gaara, and it seemed that beating these older freakshows would be part of it...She just didn't want to admit that she was dying to test out her strengnth on some random Chuunin hopefuls...

"_KAMAITACHI!!!!_"

8.8.8

Unsurprisingly, Naruto and all his clones actually stopped and turned to look at this new recent development in the drama unfolding before them. "Who's that?" asked Naruto loudly, pointing, with over a hundred fingers and asking with one voice, to no one in particular.

"That's my sister…" said Gaara softly. Behind him, Ukon's screams were slowly being choked out by the contents of a sandbox.

Sakon was attempting to save him, but Sasuke's completely out of control Housenka no Jutsu was getting in his way…and now his hair was on fire.

Meanwhile, Neji and Lee were attacking Jirobo with the most unorthodox of methods. Neji would strike Lee's tenketsu to get his chakra circulatory going into overdrive, which in Lee's case, meant it started working. Using his sudden new found speed, Lee managed to get behind Jirobo, while Neji used his ultimate distraction. Hakushou Kaiten….if the seven-year old's version could be considered that…Either way it gave Lee the time to give the oversized Sound Ninja…a wet willie. Admittedly it didn't _seem_ like it would be an effective strategy, but it did work…to an extent. It certainly came in handy though for the others. Jirobo with just his weight, was enough to take on all of the kids, even the three hundred Narutos. Instead of doing anything productive, he was trying to get Lee off his shoulders, and his fingers out of his ears.

Sasuke was fighting the six-armed freak Kidoumaru. Compared to the others, he was doing a lot better, actually landing blows of sorts on the older boy's body. Not that they were effective, but it made Sasuke feel better when he punched the creepy Sound ninja. After pulling off six successive Housenka's, 4 of them missing the target completely but assisting all of his friends, and setting Sakon's hair on fire.

"Give it up brat!" shouted Kidoumaru, "You can't possibly beat me!!"

The Sound Ninja seemed to have completely forgotten the fact that he was fighting a six-year old kid, and not another ninja…It could be seen as some sort of a compliment…if you turned it upside down and squinted a bit…

_He called me a brat…I killed Orochimaru you know…That bastard's going to pay…_

_Don't swear!!_

_Oh get a grip. Bastard is merely a term referring to someone's heredity._

_What does that mean?_

_Stop asking questions and I'll show you something cool._

Ha. That one always worked. Kidoumaru would never see this one coming.

"I'm gonna end this now!!" shouted the little dark-haired boy. Man this brat seriously knew how to press his buttons.

"Dream on kid!"

The little kid suddenly disappeared under a tree branch, and Kidoumaru heard the childish voice coming from behind him.

"Konoha's Ultimate Taijutsu technique: _Sennen Ourougi (_A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN)!!!!"

8.8.8

Naruto stared in awe as his best friend caused the Sound Ninja to scream as if he had been subjected to the world's most horrible torture.

"Naruto!!" Sasuke shouted up to him, "Use _that_ technique!!"

"WHAT??" he couldn't believe Sasuke was telling him to use _that_ technique…he couldn't be serious.

"REALLY??_THAT _ONE"

"YES!"

"YOU MEAN _THAT_…" started Naruto, just to be sure.

"JUST USE IT ALREADY!!!!!"

"But…on who?"  
"THAT ONE!!" shouted Sasuke, pointing in a vague direction.

Couldn't Sasuke be a bit more clear? Oh well, he'd just go for the closest one.

"Uzumaki Naruto Ultimate Attack: DOGGY PILE!!!!" crowed the six-year old and all three hundred of his clones.

8.8.8

What was taking them so long? They should have gotten back by now…He guessed he should look for them. Kimimaro got up slowly. There was a lot of noise coming out of this Forest of Death…All from the same direction. Logically, he extrapolated that that was the location of some intense fighting, or maybe a bunch of idiots fighting amongst themselves. Nonetheless, it would be best to investigate, who knew. Tayuya was enough to cause that much of a racket…

* * *

**A tiny brief explanation as to what happened between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9**: **The person who yelled at them was, Iruka, if it wasn't obvious...which now looking back, it wasn't. So anyway, it was Iruka. Gaara, Naruto and Sasuke got put into detention. Neji managed to weasel his way out of it, and Lee hung around the Academy, waiting for the other three's detention to be over, so they could play again. Then Naruto, being the idiot he is, comes up with the great idea to sneak out of detention through an open window. One thing leads to another, and here they are, in the Forest of Death, 10 minutes into the Chuunin Exam...**

**Note: This story is about six-year old versions of the characters of Naruto, with the exception of Sasuke for reasons explained at the beginning of the story. He unlike the others, has the fifteen year old psyche of the emo-Sasuke that all of us know so very well. As an additional note: Naruto will never be smart, nor will he 'remember' any of his old jutsus, because in this world, he doesn't have ANYTHING to remember! So stop pestering me to make Naruto 'smart'. Anyway, look at the manga. Naruto being smart, is pure fiction. He goes away for three years and comes back having learned...absolutely NOTHING. He can still only do Rasengan WITH his clones!!! WHAT on Earth was Jiraiya teaching him??? Well thinking about it, he probably taught him squat, and left him to puzzle things out. He probably went peeping...stupid perverted old man...  
**


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